voice control
The bane of my existence: my inability to speak publicly. :(My worst fears were realised today - I stumbled in front of the class. Badly. :( But it was an interesting turn of events.
My friend and I were representing our team to speak. As usual, I knew that I've never been good with public speaking, and was anxiously awaiting my turn. I took deep breaths; I told myself that it's going to be fine; I prayed really hard that God would be the one speaking instead of me. But the moment the lawyer called out our team and I stood up to walk towards the front, I could already feel the tremendous pounding in my heart. It's completely unstoppable.
I had my notes with me. I knew what I wanted to say. Yet when I opened my mouth, the words that came out of me stumbled helter-skelter. It was downright embarrassing. Try as I might to mask the trembling of my voice, it was without much success. I could feel the many pairs of eyes just staring straight at me, scrutinising every part of me. I logically knew that all they wanted was to listen to what I had to say, yet my heart was just beating non-stop like a lion dance drum. It was pounding so hard I could feel it banging against my ribcage, which in turn caused my hands to tremble, and my voice to quiver. But I told myself: the presentation must go on, I can't give up now. So I mustered whatever strength I had left and just produced the notes the way it should.
The lawyer who was grading us was surprisingly lenient. First, he "allowed" us to cut short our presentation by selecting the parts he wanted us to present (we gave him our outline before the presentation). And it so happens that the part which my friend presented appealed to him greatly. He kept saying that this was a very good point, and he was very glad that we spotted it. In comparison to the other groups who spoke, on average, for 13 minutes, we got away with barely 5 minutes and with minimal questions asked. On top of that, we found out that we actually got an A. It was incredulous. What with my terrible delivery, the shortness of our presentation, and the use of microsoft word instead of professionally-done powerpoint slides, it was absolutely amazing how we obtained that grade.
When the presentation ended, everyone I asked (and I mean everyone) said that I was like a nervous wreck up there. Sigh. My reputation will go down in history - as the girl who speaks like a broken recorder. But surprisingly, they said that even though I was nervous, the delivery was effective and they could understand the point I was making. Perhaps that is my saving grace.
posted by solitude @ 9:45 PM
Comments: 2
