Oct7

speak!

Posted on by
Standard

giving a speech has always been a challenge for me

while i love talking

one-on-one, or to a stranger or small group

(and can do so for hours, sorry)

when i have to get up in front of an audience

finding a mic in my hand

it never turns out well

it’s never gotten easier

i’m much better

with story-telling, improv, prattling on, and going off on tangents

so i have reimagined

all of these experiences

as tiny speeches.

 

—

“i can talk for a long time only when it’s about something boring.”

-lydia davis, author

 

—

image credit: harvard business review

Discover more from I didn't have my glasses on....

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

54 responses »

  4. When I was a union organiser back in my EMT days, I had to often address large crowds of members or speak at formal meetings and conferences. The first time was awful, but I soon got used to it.
    Best wishes, Pete.

    Like

    Reply ↓

  5. A speech is boring and we keep looking at our watches wanting it to be over. It takes practice to make a speech sound just like a story or friendly conversation.
    How fortunate to have that that inbred talent of story telling. You will never be without a happy audience.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply ↓

  12. This resonates with me. About 2 years ago I had to give an impromptu speech at a funeral of someone I didn’t know very personally. My fingers were cramped and remained so for more than 30 minutes after the speech. Fortunately no one realised how nervous I was during the speech 😊

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  16. I learned how to speak in front of audiences by acting in high school…in my business, I have done a large number of presentations in front of large crowds of hundreds and they always go well…perhaps because my worst nightmare almost came true early on in school: I had a two minute long opening monologue for a play, and after the first sentence my mind went blank…I “acted” like I was thinking as my mind frantically raced to find the next line…after 3-4 agonizingly long seconds, it clicked in and I never looked back, perhaps because I figured out how to handle the terror and realized they just were waiting to be entertained – so get going!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  17. It terrified me for most of my life. It stopped scaring me when — at the invitation of some students — I gave a lecture on overcoming fear of public speaking at San Diego State. 300 students showed up, some sent by their speech teachers. I was nervous, sweat like a mofo and wore a jacket to hide that. Afterward a young woman came up to ask for more information. She was so afraid just to talk to me. I saw myself in her and told her that for me the secret was focusing on my message, not the audience. If my message could help my listeners that was the important thing. We chatted a while. I also showed her my shirt, “That’s how nervous I was talking to all of you.” She said, “thank you, professor. You helped me a lot.” And she hugged me.

    I was never nervous again and went on to giver a lot of papers and stuff. ❤️

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply ↓

  23. I was asked to speak at three funerals of beloved ones lately. I CANNOT do that. I provided my thoughts in writing every time. Somebody else read it. So that I could cry in silence… I am a great talker, but I just can’t give an official speech. Can do it I intimate groups of like-minded friends or small crowds of family, friends, but not as an official speaker.
    HH, on the other hand: no problem, so this IS a big bonus for me.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  26. Omg..this is so me too…why is that so many of us feel this way getting up in front of a bunch of people to speak…something we do everyday but if it’s more than a few people we are terrified! I had to give a speech in Speech class..of all places..when I was a student at EMU..many, many moons ago. My speech was…what it would be like to be blind and so for this speech I closed all the blinds and turned off all the lights so my fellow students could imagine being blind..but it was really so they couldn’t see me speaking. AACCK!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

Leave a comment