Some of us joined Toastmasters to get over their fear of public speaking, some joined to improve on their language, and others just want to make friends. For me, its the first category. Yes, I have the utmost fear of public speaking. It’s ironic because, when I was in primary school, all I wanted to do each day was to get noticed by everyone especially my classmates. They despised me for that because I was totally out of control. Sadly, it all changed
when I hit puberty. I suddenly became completely terrified of public speaking.
In form 2, my teacher encouraged me to partake in a speech competition. I felt very confident and excited about it. And when it was my turn, I managed to start off quite well. But when I realized that all eyes were on me, my stage fright symptoms started to kick in. I started shaking. My lips began to tremble like crazy. Can you imagine how difficult it is to speak while this is happening? And the worst thing was, all that I had memorized went totally blank. And I just stood there, with my silent fillers, of course. Then when I couldn’t recover myself I abruptly ended my speech, went back to my seat with my eyes set on the floor. It was just so embarrassing. I felt like a total loser. For the whole week, I was as glum as an oyster. But that instance was just the tip of the iceberg.
Since then, I avoided public speaking altogether which made things worse especially after I started working. One of my managers thought it would be great if everyone joined Toastmasters. So, we attended one of CIMA’s Toastmasters Club meetings as guests in 2009. At first, I was reluctant because that would mean I would be exposing myself to any possible humiliation should I get called upfront. Then I thought, what are the odds of me getting called up since there were going to be 20 of us from my company. Little did I know, that the odds were against me. I got called up for table topics and the topic was “If you had the chance to travel back in time, what would you change”. I only managed to babble something about my boyfriend and then I freaked out. I remember someone from the audience telling me to relax and that I’m not dying. As soon as he said that, I became totally frantic, I was like, No!! I am dying, I am dying. Gosh, I couldn’t believe that I embarrassed myself… again!
After my second crying episode, I decided that, enough was enough. It was time for me to make a change. So, I searched online for a nearby club. I made sure it wasn’t CIMA because I didn’t want to show my face there ever again. I ended up contacting Mr. Tan from Johor Bahru Toastmasters Club and immediately became a member. The reason why I am able to stand up here today is because of my fellow club members. They are the friendliest people alive. Even if I did terribly or made mistakes, they would still give me praises and endless encouragement. Whenever I’d finish a speech, they would shake my hand and congratulate me for a job well done. Its motivation like these that made me look forward to practicing more as a speaker; and it doesn’t matter if I embarrassed myself or I wasn’t perfect because a wise person once said to me that, practice doesn’t make perfect, practice makes better. So, that’s the story of how Toastmasters became my remedy. For whatever reason you may have, I hope that Toastmasters will become your remedy too.
when I hit puberty. I suddenly became completely terrified of public speaking.
In form 2, my teacher encouraged me to partake in a speech competition. I felt very confident and excited about it. And when it was my turn, I managed to start off quite well. But when I realized that all eyes were on me, my stage fright symptoms started to kick in. I started shaking. My lips began to tremble like crazy. Can you imagine how difficult it is to speak while this is happening? And the worst thing was, all that I had memorized went totally blank. And I just stood there, with my silent fillers, of course. Then when I couldn’t recover myself I abruptly ended my speech, went back to my seat with my eyes set on the floor. It was just so embarrassing. I felt like a total loser. For the whole week, I was as glum as an oyster. But that instance was just the tip of the iceberg.
Since then, I avoided public speaking altogether which made things worse especially after I started working. One of my managers thought it would be great if everyone joined Toastmasters. So, we attended one of CIMA’s Toastmasters Club meetings as guests in 2009. At first, I was reluctant because that would mean I would be exposing myself to any possible humiliation should I get called upfront. Then I thought, what are the odds of me getting called up since there were going to be 20 of us from my company. Little did I know, that the odds were against me. I got called up for table topics and the topic was “If you had the chance to travel back in time, what would you change”. I only managed to babble something about my boyfriend and then I freaked out. I remember someone from the audience telling me to relax and that I’m not dying. As soon as he said that, I became totally frantic, I was like, No!! I am dying, I am dying. Gosh, I couldn’t believe that I embarrassed myself… again!
After my second crying episode, I decided that, enough was enough. It was time for me to make a change. So, I searched online for a nearby club. I made sure it wasn’t CIMA because I didn’t want to show my face there ever again. I ended up contacting Mr. Tan from Johor Bahru Toastmasters Club and immediately became a member. The reason why I am able to stand up here today is because of my fellow club members. They are the friendliest people alive. Even if I did terribly or made mistakes, they would still give me praises and endless encouragement. Whenever I’d finish a speech, they would shake my hand and congratulate me for a job well done. Its motivation like these that made me look forward to practicing more as a speaker; and it doesn’t matter if I embarrassed myself or I wasn’t perfect because a wise person once said to me that, practice doesn’t make perfect, practice makes better. So, that’s the story of how Toastmasters became my remedy. For whatever reason you may have, I hope that Toastmasters will become your remedy too.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletereply
Delete