Public Speaking: No diapers required
I’ve reached another amazing milestone on this journey to become an author. About two weeks ago, I had the librarian from Joe Foss ask me if I would come in and speak to the kids. Speak to the kids you say? Like giving a speech? Suddenly I have a vision of myself breaking into a cold sweat, hands trembling and gripping a podium until my knuckles go white and quite possibly in need of a diaper.
I thought my days of getting up and speaking in front of people were long gone the day I gave my last speech in college. I can actually even remember the moment of the last sentence of my last speech. I was never going to do that again. Ever.
But then something happened. I realized that I’ve never wanted anything so bad in my life…this affair I’m having with writing, and I decided that if it was going to help the cause, then by golly, I was going to do it.
Know what happened? I loved it. Every second. I got to the school and for some reason, my nerves were behaving. I think it had something to do with me actually deciding that I wasn't going to be anxious about it. It was like an order I was giving myself. Surprisingly, it actually worked and the kids were amazing. They had fresh voices and a genuine curiosity that only a child can possess. By the time I left, they were fighting over who was going to get to read the school’s only copy first. I left with a smile on my face.
Then comes the hard part. You see, Joe Foss only asked to have me speak to about 15 kids. I had one more speech left for the year. I had to go to Whittier and speak to about 100 sixth graders in an auditorium. How did I just go from a small classroom to an auditorium? Seriously rethinking that diaper.
I gave myself the same order. Play it cool. Act like you know what you’re doing. Be someone else. Strange right? Be someone else? For one hour, I was someone else. I was a professional author coming to a school to speak about my love of writing and attempting to inspire the kids to chase their dreams. The kids sat captivated (I don’t remember giving speakers that much respect when I was younger) and the coolest part of all is that when my speaking portion was over, the kids went crazy with questions.
The best part of all, I suppose though, was having my son there to witness his mom in action. It happened to be his birthday so I decided to sneak him out of class to come watch his mom in action. I know for me, having my kid watch me command a room is a memory I will treasure forever. I might have even seen a hint of pride on his face. Or was it happiness from getting to ditch Math? Either way, it’s not a memory either of us are soon to forget.
I think I read somewhere once that one of the keys to happiness was pushing yourself to new levels and mastering a new skill. While I will probably never be a professional speaker, there is no doubt in my mind that this step in becoming a writer was the one where I had the biggest leap in growth I've had so far. Not only am I not afraid of going to schools now, I look forward to it. No diapers necessary.
I thought my days of getting up and speaking in front of people were long gone the day I gave my last speech in college. I can actually even remember the moment of the last sentence of my last speech. I was never going to do that again. Ever.
But then something happened. I realized that I’ve never wanted anything so bad in my life…this affair I’m having with writing, and I decided that if it was going to help the cause, then by golly, I was going to do it.
Know what happened? I loved it. Every second. I got to the school and for some reason, my nerves were behaving. I think it had something to do with me actually deciding that I wasn't going to be anxious about it. It was like an order I was giving myself. Surprisingly, it actually worked and the kids were amazing. They had fresh voices and a genuine curiosity that only a child can possess. By the time I left, they were fighting over who was going to get to read the school’s only copy first. I left with a smile on my face.
Then comes the hard part. You see, Joe Foss only asked to have me speak to about 15 kids. I had one more speech left for the year. I had to go to Whittier and speak to about 100 sixth graders in an auditorium. How did I just go from a small classroom to an auditorium? Seriously rethinking that diaper.
I gave myself the same order. Play it cool. Act like you know what you’re doing. Be someone else. Strange right? Be someone else? For one hour, I was someone else. I was a professional author coming to a school to speak about my love of writing and attempting to inspire the kids to chase their dreams. The kids sat captivated (I don’t remember giving speakers that much respect when I was younger) and the coolest part of all is that when my speaking portion was over, the kids went crazy with questions.
The best part of all, I suppose though, was having my son there to witness his mom in action. It happened to be his birthday so I decided to sneak him out of class to come watch his mom in action. I know for me, having my kid watch me command a room is a memory I will treasure forever. I might have even seen a hint of pride on his face. Or was it happiness from getting to ditch Math? Either way, it’s not a memory either of us are soon to forget.
I think I read somewhere once that one of the keys to happiness was pushing yourself to new levels and mastering a new skill. While I will probably never be a professional speaker, there is no doubt in my mind that this step in becoming a writer was the one where I had the biggest leap in growth I've had so far. Not only am I not afraid of going to schools now, I look forward to it. No diapers necessary.
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