How often?
“Inside every adult lurks a graduation speaker dying to get out,” wrote Mary Schmich in a column for the Chicago Tribune in June 1997.
She continued in the article to offer advice which included “Do one thing every day that scares you.”
I would love to live by that maxim but have to admit that, with the surprises and scares that life throws my way, once a year is quite enough, thank you very much!
My first podcast
Because I always want to have empathy for my clients who are learning and challenging themselves, I deliberately tackle something new annually in order to get out of my comfort zone. Today, it was my first podcast.
I thought I would be fine. I thought it would be easy. After all, in 2016 I ‘scared’ myself by doing three videos. Now that was hard, partially because I had to both look and sound the part. Today, I just had to speak about what I can do for Africa. In fact, someone who knows me quite well says there are many two-legged donkeys in the village where I live!
“Do as I say, not as I do“!
But the self-conscious act of speaking alone while being recorded for broadcast is not easy when one hasn’t done it before, even if I’ve applied all the techniques I coach. The first time around, I ran out of steam after 3 minutes when I thought I had spoken for at least 9! What was in my head fizzled out and didn’t come out as I intended. So we stopped and I wrote down a few notes, just an outline of the beginning, middle and end. Hmm, it would appear I had forgotten the planning and practice techniques that I teach others!
The result is something I’m quite proud of and hope you enjoy listening. I would love to receive your feedback and read your comments.
Huge thanks to the very talented Maya C. Eadie who recorded, reassured and (sneakily) photographed me. Her knowledge, expertise and generosity are much appreciated.
I would also like to give credit to Quote Investigator where I confirmed the true source of the main quotation.
