I believe we human beings are so powerful today because of our ability to communicate. There might be other species which communicate with their fellow ones but none of which i know that could transfer knowledge across generations. The speed at which we are able to advance always depended on how well we can store information, transfer knowledge. No wonder the advancement in technology in last century is way more than what many of earlier centuries put together
At the core of human communication is speaking. As kids we first learn the art of speaking , then learn writing to store and transfer information. Speaking and writing make us so much more powerful. we learn in our first year to start speaking, but even after 25 years of doing it so many of us lack the confidence and strength to pull of a speaking assignment. Is it not strange that something which we started learning at the age of 1 and still not able to master it. We all start at a common point but some of us look way ahead of others in speaking and writing skills. In this generation if one doesnot excel in these its tough to make your mark in this world.
I will share my story about how terrible speaker i was. I think i am a terrible speaker even now but i think i speak with more confidence and better clarity of thoughts. My first attempt at speaking was student independence day speech in our school, it used to be written by my dad and i used to rehearse once at home. If i remember correctly, i don't recall me having any problem or fear of speaking on the stage at that time. But the real problem started when i grew up, the fear of people evaluating me based on my speaking skills terrified me, i felt i didn't have the vocabulary, i felt i didn't have knowledge, i felt i don't have that ability to keep audience attentive.
Fast forward to 2003, I along with 35 of my classmates went on a 14 day Industrial trip. Like any engineering Industrial trip, we visited zero industries and a new tourist place everyday. I was one of the members of organizing team. When we were back from the trip there was session organized by the college to share the experiences of our trip. I was not really prepared for that nor i believed i could do an extempore talk.
I gathered some courage and got to auditorium stage and spoke for 5 to 6 min. Till date i would rate that my worst ever speech, it was full of blunders , i could not finish sentences , i could not convey even 10% what that trip was about. I was so embarrassed ,but somehow i finished that terrible speech and felt a sigh of relief.
That day i realized how bad i was at speaking but the good thing about exercise was all that fear accumulated for years was gone in 5 min, i felt i have no more baggage to carry , i felt better about what i did because i can only do better from there and i started not to care about what others would think of my speech. The fact of the matter is none of my classmates or teachers would remember how terribly i spoke on that day, how i foolish i would be not to take to the stage and speak and leave my fear once for all.
From that day i have put in a conscious effort to improve my speaking abilities, i would speak extempore to myself while i was driving alone, we used to have debates in our 2 hour long train travels with my classmates. All these things in one form or the other i keep doing it till date. Nothing can help you give a great speech than having command over the topic and clarity of thoughts. My target next year is to give a conference talk , it helps to have a well defined goal. So lets see how it goes .
No one ever died trying to give public Speech yet so many people are terribly afraid of doing that.
Next time there is an opportunity , just go and grab that.. It is your initiative and only yours which can make a difference in your life.
End of Day 2..See you on the 3rd tomorrow
