Come, conquer it

Panic, Embarrassed, Exposed

Those were the feeling I had when I walked on to the stage in from of an audience for the first time in my life. This was in the school days and I was acting as one of the lead characters in a play. Soon I stepped on to the stage I looked at the audience. There were too many people in that huge hall. I glanced only once. That was enough. A shiver passed through my body, tongue-tied, and I was frozen. The teacher who scripted and directed the play appeared at the corner of the stage and started whispering me the dialogue. 

(Teacher)“Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once”

(Me- hastily)” Cowradies many times before deaths; valiant never tastebuds”

A play supposed to be a serious one ended as a comedy show. Even after I finished the audience was trying to figure out the plethora of new words I invented on the stage.

Stage fear, Fear of Public speaking, Fear of facing an audience. I am not alone in this. The fear of public speaking always tops the list of fears. 46% of Americans fear that. This fear comes from Anxiety. Another study says that 85% feel anxiety in high stake speaking. I think the rest 15% may be lying. I don’t have to do much research on this. In the capacity of Vice President of Education of toastmaster club, I contact almost everyone for planning each meeting, just t fill 2 speaking slots and other 3 important roles. Many times I ended up in contacting other toastmaster clubs to fill up the roles.

Apart from leave and unavailability the reasons I hear mostly circles around the word anxiety.

                What people will think of me?   

                What if I fail?

                I need more time to prepare to prepare, so that I don’t forget my lines.

                What if I couldn’t connect with audience and communicate my idea

                What if I fail to convince audience?

Do you remember any other time these questions trouble you??

                In a meeting when your turn comes?

                When the speaker asks for questions after presentations

                Again when someone asks about your ideas

                Or when taking some critical decisions and you have a different thought?

                Or least in selecting a topic for a speech you wanted to give?

Isn’t so?

Because of the anxiety we hide our ideas and silence the pondering questions within us. Thus closing the doors to your unique ideas that no one else might have. Those ideas are yours, grown in you, just to stay within you, and die prematurely. That’s a miss, A miss for you, A miss for your friends and family, to the society.

One of my colleagues is passing through this same phase. His ideas are impressive and very much unique, which can change the way the developments and applications are maintained are done, and also give fantastic customer experience. If taken a step ahead, his idea can potentially become a startup with a big chance of success. But every time he presents his ideas, the Anxiety takes it over and rests you can imagine. He is still my colleague.

In 1889, one Indian lawyer went through the same traumatizing experience of anxiety. He was appearing for his first case in his career, but he couldn’t utter any word. He ran out of the courtroom in humiliation. Later in his age, he managed his anxiety by welcoming it with an open heart and it began to fade away. He communicated his ideas loud and clear and it starts resonating within the heart of millions of Indians. He was able to inspire them, unite them in the fight against colonial powers. The one we ran away from the court led the nation to independence and become the father of our nation.

There are many such men and women in the world, who overcame the fear of public speaking, let their idea flow through freely, which changed the course of their life and of the world. Abraham Lincon, Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Jefferson, Winston Churchill, Harisson Ford, Mr. Bean Rowa Atkin. The list is long. The toastmaster club is a small invitation to you to join that list. Come on to the stage, Say “Hello” to your anxiety, embrace it, and conquer it. A leader is made.    

“Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once”