Below is my project 10 from competent communicator manual in Toastmasters club.
Objectives:
- To inspire the audience by appealing to noble motives and challenging the audience to achieve a higher level of beliefs or achievements.
- Appeal to the audience’s needs and emotions, using stories, anecdotes and quotes to add drama.
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Good evening fellow toastmasters and dear guests,
Do you remember as a kid we used to be scared of the monsters under the bed, the sound of old window creaking up at night and dark mystical figure hanging off the old banyan trees?
Now I want you all to close your eyes and imagine the time when you were a kid.
Can you imagine yourself?
Now I want to remember the time when you were scared, humiliated or embarrassed.
Do you remember those dreadful moments? Can you feel them? Do those moments still bring chills down your spine, makes your leg numb and hair stand up?
Now open your eyes but I want to remember those unhappy thoughts and haunting memories.
Today I am going to share a story of a kid who was as sacred just like you.
The story begins in an auditorium filled with hundreds of student; an 8 year old kid walks up to the podium to read the Morning Prayer.
As soon as he was about to start the prayer he saw hundred pairs of eyes staring at him, waiting for him to recite the Morning Prayer.
Suddenly he became conscious, his hands started sweating profoundly and he stood there like a statue, uttering only a single word ‘a-a-a-a’ (with a stammering voice). The entire auditorium burst into laughter.
Next day, all he could hear in the school was ‘a-a-a-a’ (enacting his stammering voice). The entire school teased him with his new name.
This incidence was the first tryst with his fear of Public Speaking.
The second meeting with the fear came in his English class when the teacher asked him to read a paragraph from Shakespeare’s Othello.
The kid felt as if she had asked him to put his head under the blade.
With his head down, his heart welled up, chants of ‘a-a-a-a’ echoing in his mind. He walked up to the podium and looked towards forty pairs of eyes staring at him.
Suddenly he recalled the gut-wrenching Morning Prayer experience. He became nervous; his entire body started shaking, trembling and his heart was racing. He tried to read from the book but the familiar English letter A B C D E suddenly became Greek and Latin. Soon things started moving out of focus and he blanked out and stood there like a statue without uttering a single word.
He really felt bad and insulted. To avoid further humiliation, he started running away from his fear. He sat in the corner bench avoiding the gaze of the English teacher and never raising his hand to ask a question. Soon he became invisible to the world and weaker to himself. Now his fear started growing stronger and stronger.
The third meeting with the fear came when the kid became an adult. He joined a premium College where he had to give a presentation. Before the presentation, he was really worried about whether he would be able to speak in front of the crowd or not but guess what happened? (Big pause)
He couldn’t. He just couldn’t utter a single word and blanked out.
Days, months and years passed, he joined a premium company but here too his fear followed him under the veil of his own shadow.
Soon the fear started affecting his self confidence, personality and his outlook. Soon he became introvert and shy.
Then, one day he came across one liner in Stephen’s king Shining –
‘Monster breeds inside you”
He said to himself “I had enough, now I need to do something.”
He Google “How to overcome fear of public speaking” and found out that 80% of the world population ranked public speaking as their greatest fear but he wanted to be on the other side. Yes, he wanted to be among those 20% – confident, suave and impeccable speakers so he pushed the door of the (p) Toastmasters Club and sat here like a guest.
He was mesmerized and speechless when he heard the speaker dazzle the audience with his charisma. He told to himself – “I want like him” and next day, he became a member.
Let me ask you a question “Do you think he became a fabulous speaker”? (Audience Q)
The answer is “NO”.
Now you must be wondering “Why?” because he didn’t give any speech for the next 6 months.
He simply attended the meeting regularly, sat in the cuckoo of his fear.
His fear had gripped him in its clutches and didn’t want to lose him.
So finally, one day his mentor asked him “why don’t you give your speech?” He replied “I can’t because whenever I step into the podium, I lose control of my senses, words doesn’t reach my tongue. The audience resembles death eater waiting to eat my soul with a single mistake”.
Then his mentor replied “Face it Face it Face it; that’s the only way to overcome your fear because whatever you ever dream lies on the other side of the fear”.
Friends,
Swami Vivekananda said “Be a hero. Always say ‘I have no fear’. Tell this to everybody ‘I have no fear’ because your fear remains powerful only till the time you feed it.
If you fear heights, face it & go for bungee jumping
If you fear water, face it & go for scuba diving
If you fear public speaking, face it & join toastmasters club.
It will be gone only if you give your speeches.
Today, the kid is standing in front of you and delivering his project 10 from competent communicator is a perfect example of overcoming your fear by facing it.
In the process of overcoming my fear, I not only became confident speaker but also made lifelong cherishing friends.
Deepti’s sisterly love; Anhul’s 24*7 helping nature; Shreehari’s awesomeness; Rama’s jokes ; shashank’s confidence; vikas cool attitude; ankur’s friendly nature; adi’s wittiness; namita’s caring nature; anshula’s dedication; Gurman’s street smartness; Anu’s smile; and Akshay’s silence.
Today is my last meeting in Infosys Toastmaster Club and I will miss you all. But I will cherish the memory and treasure the confidence which I would be taking forward as a Toastmaster. It wouldn’t have been possible without facing my fears.
Thank you. Over to you Mr. Toastmaster
Congratulations prats!!! way to go…u’ll be missed…
I seriously missed you speaking it.
Awesome !!!