Bright lights. Mic ringing. Eyes staring, deep, you feel each of them on to your skin. You try to speak, nothing comes out, now, awkward silence. Public Speaking, terrifying, but part of the valuable skill, communication. Today I faced it. For the first time, I spoke in front of a group, adults who had experienced more life, listening to what I and fellow mates had to say. This experience, was, at the beginning , nerve-wracking. Those first few words coming out were spoken out of courage. We have practiced and edited our scripts, we were told to let it flow, and be ourselves, and a valuable piece of advice, "speak with confidence" because they do not know what is in your script, they most likely won't know if you said or stated anything wrong or incorrect. Speak. That is what we did. This piece of advice really projected my speaking, you see. Practice is key, Confidence is everything. During my part, I stuttered, honestly, and kept going. Keep going, you will stumble but keep going. During the presentation, there was a bit of a technical issue, it lasted only a few seconds, but during that time there was silence. What would you do? During the silence, would you keep the silence, or project your voice to fill it? I would fill, something simple like how are you all is good, it keeps the feeling going, it breaks the ice.
Filling the silence, silence is good, it takes the pause, and allows the audience to take in the information, you should keep them wanting to listen to more, that is why you keep pauses. However, pauses out of your control, keeping them waiting for something outside your control, should be controlled. For example, you waiting for a file to upload, you are with a person. What would you normally do with your friends? Start a conversation,maybe make a comment about how long it's taking, in here, we want to take that, and fill it up with positivity. Ask them "how are you?" Or compliment something you noticed about them. This will allow them to start a connection with you. People want to connect with people, so connect with them.
During my second part of the speaking, I didn't take much notice to the video, I read my script, and occasionally looked at the video as I went, filling my own commentary to take care of the seemingly long pauses. In the end, we felt proud of ourselves, we did something we wouldn't normally have done, a type of fear conquering. We can do it again, it just starts with the first step, then the next, then you keep going. I suggest this. Speaking to people. Speaking to those you don't know or taking a different approach to communication with friends. Practice, study, and improve. The better at communication, the bigger the voice you have internally and externally.
On the side, persistence, remember this, keep going, today I jogged 1.5 miles, I took breaks, and kept going, and for that, I am proud of myself. It is good to take breaks, the game isn't done until you stop or it's finished. Breaks can even make us perform better and harder as well.
YOU ARE READING
365 days with my rival
AzioneA diary charting my life for three hundred and sixty-five days, I hope this could inspire my readers to document and set their lives to the direction they want.
