Hello Lovelies!!! I hope all is well and fabulous in your world. It's Sunday and a new week is upon us. How was your weekend? Mine was interesting and I decided to blog about it. Here goes!
A few months ago, I was asked to speak at the first seminar for the newly launched women's empowerment organization,
Aspire for Higher. The founder asked that I present on image and style, both of which are my passions. Initially I declined the request because
public speaking is the very last thing I ever want to do. I'd rather electric slide over hot coals at gun point than stand in front of a group of people and talk. Pretty extreme, huh? As a child, I was painfully shy and some of that shyness has carried over into my adulthood. There are moments when that shy little girl reappears and I prefer to be in the background...unnoticed.
The founder asked me again to present and I said yes.Why did I say yes??? After talking to my mom (aka my biggest cheerleader who thinks I can do any and everything), I felt a
little better. Soon after committing to speak, I began working on my presentation. Creating my PowerPoint and writing out my note cards was the easy part. I probably drove my amazingly supportive bff crazy asking her to proof the drafts of my presentation and telling her how nervous I was about speaking in public.
Between my mom's "You can do this. Stop saying you're shy, you have no reason to be shy." and my bff telling me "Kim you're not talking about the mating rituals of insects, you're talking about image and style. You know this stuff." I started to feel that maybe I could do it and actually do a good job.
It can be hard to shake old thoughts so every time I thought about the actual speaking and presenting, I got queasy. As the date got closer, I was thinking of ways to get out of my presentation and I came up with some pretty outlandish excuses. I was actually contemplating an illness the day of the event,lol!
Fast forward to the big day and I awoke with a tummy full of butterflies. As I picked out my ensemble and chose my makeup, one may have thought I was about to attend a funeral. I said a short prayer and some affirmations before I left the house.
Well not to toot my own horn but toot-toot... I did really well. I'm so proud of myself. My PowerPoint was well received by the ladies. My presentation was entitled
Image 101 (title slide pictured above), I spoke about the importance of image, developing your personal style, wardrobe essentials, accessories, and using image to attract people and opportunities into your life.
Initially I was very nervous but the more I talked the more the jitters went away. I remembered all the tips from speech class; I smiled, made eye contact with the crowd, and even tossed in a few funny one-liners. Yay me!!! There were a couple areas that I need to work on. I heard myself say "Um" twice. I think I'll invest in working with a coach.
After my presentation I was on top of the world! I had an amazing boost of confidence and dare I say I can see more speaking engagements in my future. I think I may have conquered a fear this weekend.
What fears have you conquered? Let me know in the comments section.
