Past Presentations
Encounter your past and free yourself
Let me tell you a story,
Scene 1:
Once there was a small kid studying in primary school. He had been listening to these newly released songs from the Hindi movie 'Baagi' starring Salman Khan & others. One day, the teacher asked the class
'Who would like to Sing today?'
The little boy was enthusiastic to share his new found song. And, up went his hand before anyone else.
The teacher said 'xxx, you can sing today'
The boy was so excited that he actually danced to the front of the class.
Everyone in the class was looking expectedly at him. The boy was not nervous, he was actually too excited.
The teacher said 'Start'
And the boy started singing. There he was sharing this brilliant song. It was Hip, with catchy words and ......... Wait!!!! Why is everyone laughing???
'Did I sing anything wrong? Is my voice very bad?? Am I such a bad singer? Even the teacher is laughing, I must really be bad.'
The boy finished his song in mid-sentence and walked back to his seat. That day, he decided, I will NEVER SING in front of people again. I will NEVER go on stage again. People will laugh at me.
Scene 2:
The same kid was forced to give a lecture on Merits & De-Merits of Science, when he was studying in 10th std. Imagine the situation, the kid is standing on the stage with a note in his hand, about 200 other kids & teachers are looking at him expectantly.
He starts slowly, reading from the note. Gains a bit of confidence and raises his voice to express more emotion. As he gets cozy with the subject, he makes the mistake of looking at the audience.
A beautiful girl is staring at him and upon his gaze, laughs lightly.
BOOOOOM!!!!
Everything goes haywire. His hand starts shaking, his legs can’t support his weight anymore. He starts sweating profusely and there are blind spots in front of his eyes. The kid reads the note at top speed and makes a hasty exit from the stage.
Scene 3:
The kid became a teenager and took up BE in computer science. In his final semester, he was supposed to make a presentation. He was very nervous and did not want to make a stage appearance.
Finally, he resorted to some filmy lines for the opening introduction and hoped that he would be able to carry through.
The D-Day arrived and he goes to the stage. There are about 10 spectators and he starts with the filmy lines. “Man, that was good. No one can think of such a brilliant idea.” He goes beyond the filmy lines and warms up to the subject. Just then, someone raises their hands. “What does this bugger want? I am trying so desperately to finish this presentation. He must be trying to spoil my presentation. I will not yield.”
our Teenager asks, “Yes, what is it?”
Onlooker says, “I have a question”
Our Teenager rudely says, “Questions will be answered only at the end!!!”
With this statement, our Teenager carries on without waiting for a reply.
Scene 4:
Our teenager has grown and is now working in a software company. Once, he has to give a presentation to a team of co-workers, managers and other administrative personnel.
He starts with a stutter and collects himself. He carries forward by looking at each person in turn and holding their gaze for a few seconds. He has an easy smile and relaxed mood.
The Presentation is a success!!!
Lets look at each of the scenarios and try to see what happened,
Scene 1: The small kid was super excited and when everyone laughed at him. He felt small and made an on-spot decision to never become the centre of attraction. It is like the clap of an hand, in an instant, he had made that decision and he carried it forward throughout his life.
Scene 2: The kid was forced in front of hundred’s of people and his past re-occurred in front of him. He couldn’t let go of his past and he blundered again. But the experience left him totally shattered. He was absolutely sure that, every time he goes on the stage, he would make a fool of himself.
Scene 3: The teenager was still holding onto his past. He was afraid that the past would re-occur. When a fellow raises his hands to ask a question, the teenager is absolutely sure that this person will ruin the show. So, what does he do? He stomps of the other person. Yes, this is the way of dealing with things. Just ride over any obstacles.
Scene 4: So, what changed the guy in here? Was it all an act?
Nope!!! It was not an act. The guy was genuine. He had understood his previous mistakes and worked hard to erase them.
He faced his past and understood, what had happened each time. He had done a trip down the memory lane and reached to the origin(scene 1).
He understood that all though kids laughed at him, he was not sure what was the reason. Even if they were laughing at his singing, it basically meant that the song was funny. No one was trying to scare him. There was nothing to be scared off. He did what he loved, why should he stop doing it just because some one laughed.
This formed the basis of all the mishaps on stage in his life. Understanding this lent him a new beginning. A new path to follow and be himself.
The kid, teenager & guy featured in this article is none other than your Humble “Raghu”.
This is my story and I very much went through the experiences.
I see a lot of people being afraid to talk on stages or giving presentations (I was one of them). The reason could be one such incident from their past. As kids, our minds very easily get tuned to any abrasive nature from our surroundings. We form a shield around ourselves (also called as a “complex”). These shields will never let us bring out our potential.
How do we burn these shields? The only way that I could find was to encounter our past experience and let go off it.
Does it mean that, if we let go of our past, we will great orators? We become more confident, once we let go off our past. But, it does not make us excellent orators. For that, we need to work hard on our skills and utilize it in the best possible way.