Before we start, promise not to laugh too hard... Though you might not get cracked up, but whenever I remember this event, I laugh at how naughty I was when I first got the chance to speak before a people.
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Here's the gist...
A decade ago, I was opportuned to act as the Head prefect of a Secondary School for a few days, amongst the things we were to do was to engage in a debate session with a contending class.
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We were to talk briefly on the most important between a teacher and a doctor. We all know without teachers, the circulation of knowledge will be hard. We can't also neglect the fact that without doctors the human race might be wiped away.
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I got to understand that, the essence of a debate session isn't really to display what is right or wrong, the essence is to show to the public who is able to defend his thoughts.
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Same with the duty of a lawyer, the best lawyer is known because he or she can defend accurately with proofs and evidence.
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Basically, what I was told to do was to defend the doctors while the opposing team elevate the teachers.
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Before then I have tried speaking before a people before but not as demanding as this.
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I wrote down my points, they sounded nice, I ruminate on them for hours that my heart seemed like it has mastered every bit of the words like the lyrics of a verse being chewed by the song writer.
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It was time to defend.
They started with the other party, the lead speaker came up and spoke intelligently for 3 mins. I knew I could do better because based on my points, compared to her's, I'm still at an advantage.
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But, the worst happened ! Could you guess what went wrong?
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It was my turn. I stepped to the podium with the normal technique we were taught, I smiled and took my position with confidence.
I picked my words and unfortunately I made a very noticeable mistake.
Everyone started to laugh at me, the words I could hear was that "He made a big mistake, look at him, so weak..."
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Nobody said these words out, but trust me, I could read the words from those laughing folks who surrounded me.
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I was confident but something I lacked was a way to take up my stand even if a mistake was made.
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This mistake got me worried. I stopped appearing before people for a long time.
After making such mistake , I stood on the podium without saying any other thing. My other team players were staring at me, the words from their hearts can read "Keep talking and don't disgrace us".
My teacher looked at me scornfully. I was sad. The time keeper needed to ring the bell and I sucked to my sit.
I was the reason my team lost the competition... For years that word stayed in my heart until a day when I get vindicated.
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I decided I was going to speak again regardless...
I started to train myself and the most important thing I worked on was how to manage my errors on the stage.
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I did this for a long time and now I manage a Mental Health Awearness NGO where we move from schools to schools to teach on mental health. Here are some images from the NGO
I share my experience with them whenever I'm teaching on building confidence or getting over low self-esteem.
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I also started a podcast too... Though, people feel my podcast has a lot of errors in the speaking, yet I still do my best to improve.
Here are a few images of my podcast Episodes
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I'm 1% better everyday, and that is the secret to being a good public speaker, it's in becoming better every day.
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I hope my story inspires you. Also, you can share your experience, I'll really love to read about it.
If you want to find out more about my Podcast, use this link to access any of the episodes on Spotify.
If you also want to find out more on the Mental Health NGO, you can also check our Instagram page here.
Thank you for reading 🥰🥰🚀🚀
Good thing, you never totally gave up public speaking and decided to come back at it despite the many years have passed! And its good as well that you used this story to inspire the younger generation. All past mistakes always end up as a great learning in the end.
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