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| "Unaccustomed as I am ..." |
An Oasis of calm.
That I was ‘looking forward’ to the presentation, ‘genuinely’
looking forward to addressing a room full of people, all strangers of unknown mixed
abilities, some who would be cynical – hostile even – regarding my message,
that I was looking forward to this is a staggering indicator of the journey I
have been on over the last couple of years.
I have always been a techy, and my presentation - on how to
make the most out of that LinkedIn account you opened but have done nothing
much with – is a subject I know well, and my technical knowledge allows me to
talk on Technical, Social Media, WEB, Cloud or IT matters very wide of the core
subject being discussed. And in the Engineering and Technical sales/marketing
phases of my career I was at ease presenting complex technical matters to both
technical and non technical audiences.
What was so different here then? I guess you can see it
coming … it was the public speaking, not so long ago I was FIRMLY in the “Fear
Public Speaking more than Death” camp.
Driving to the venue I confess to wondering why I was so
calm and whether I would be OK when the time came. But those thoughts didn’t take hold, I didn’t
allow them too – some simple NLP stuff I picked up on this journey.
It dawned on me that personal development comes in many
guises, reading, mentoring, coaching and training for sure, but also in my case
it was the ‘doing’ that has helped. While
this was my first key note speech, over recent years I had presented many tutorials
and training courses on Social Media and Business Development – and I guess all
that practice gave me confidence.
So – my blog message – to all those I have trained, mentored or coached – the most important thing and the new closing message for all my training… “Now go do it”.
So – my blog message – to all those I have trained, mentored or coached – the most important thing and the new closing message for all my training… “Now go do it”.
Well – Whatever next ? As I find myself saying more and more…
Nice one, well done Mick. What was the biggest thing that got you through it?
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon. I guess you might sum it up in 'preparation', arguably the years of training and presenting on most things Social Media was all part of the preparation, plus carefully putting together the material before the event - I just knew what was coming.
ReplyDeleteSome well placed humor, that fortunately the audience enjoyed, set the tone from the start and we were all underway before we knew it.
Nice to know we're all in the same boat Mick, thanks for sharing that one
ReplyDeleteHi Matt... Yes - I think many people do not like public speaking... I just found myself totally up for it, and recognized this calm keen anticipation as utterly unexpected. Hence the reflecting on this and the blog.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to doing more - I have a new goal... to play the O2 ;)