A few
years ago, I was invited to go on tv and talk about Katz Tales, a feelgood column I write in The Star, the Malaysian national newspaper.
When it
comes to cats, I talk at Olympic level. Honestly, it’s a job to shut me up. But
the second I watched an episode of the chat show, I got the heebie
jeebies.
I
thought, that presenter interviews famous people and who am I? Nobody! And what about the people watching? What if
they think I'm an idiot or a nutcase?
But as I
watched another episode, I realised something.
For me,
my life is a story that stars me. I am in every scene. I am the centre of my
universe. It’s me-me-me all the way.
But for
the chat show host, her life story stars her. And for each and every viewer,
it’s the same deal.
And
that’s when I thought, wait a minute…
I put
myself in the place of the presenter and imagined being her. On the day of the
interview, she would be consulting with her colleagues, talking to her producer
and her director, then it would be makeup, maybe she’d have to manage her
advertisers too....
At some
point, she'd meet me, and she'd do her job, behaving professionally - just as
she would with the other three guests scheduled for that day.
It was a
lightbulb moment: in her life story I was insignificant, a mere blip on the
radar.
It
liberated me. I could go on, talk cat and she wouldn't be judging. I wasn't
important enough for her to even really notice me.
As for
the viewers, it was the same. They might laugh for a moment, or be bored and go
and make a cup of tea, but that would be it. I didn’t feature significantly in
their life story either.
That
experience underlined an important fact for me. Very often, our fear of public
speaking runs so high, that we get a stress reaction – and it muddles our good
sense.
When
frightened, we imagine the worst. But our perceptions may not be true
reflections of the facts.
So, if
you have to do a presentation, and you find yourself in a spiraling panic,
take a step back, think it over and consider the matter from all angles.
My
learning experience has kept me centred for all my public speaking. I hope it
helps you, too.
If you’re
stressed or need help or support, contact me and we’ll set
up a video conference appointment. It's super private, nobody knows
we're talking. The first twenty minutes are free.
