I gave my final presentation of my college career yesterday, unless they spring one up on me in the last moment (which I would not put past these nefarious professors). It's been a long, hard battle between public speaking and me. I hate it. Despise it. Would like to buy a double-barreled shotgun and have a "talk" with it.
The first presentations I gave were in high school. You know, just little things here and there. I would sweat, turn bright red with embarrassment, and my voice would quake. Things didn't get much better from there.
At college I had to take a public speaking course that consisted of 5 entire people. But still it was so difficult. When I would present, my voice would be so soft it was on the edge of inaudible, I would sweat and stumble and read from my notes like I was at a book reading. I thought, "After speech class I'll never have to do another speech again!" I was wrong.
In my first class at my current college, I had to present for 45 minutes. 45 MINUTES! It was terrible, the normal sweat and bright red embarrassment and stumbling over my words. But then I had a panic attack around 20 minutes into it and had to rush to the bathroom because I thought I was going to pass out. And then I had to return to the front of the class and finish my presentation. I swore that was my last public speaking experience.
I discovered that in almost every class there was a presentation to do. Some with groups, some by myself, some an hour and a half, some 20 minutes. With every one I thought, "THAT was the last presentation... no, no THAT was the last presentation." I was wrong every time.
This semester I had all my presentations in one week (which typically happens to me, now that I think about it). My final presentation was in a class called "Human Sexuality." The topic that I was discussing was people with "Ambiguous Genitalia," also known as intersex individuals, hermaphrodites, etc. The length was 1 hr. 15 minutes. The point of the whole assignment was to draw the entire class into a conversation about the topic, mediate the conversation, and present my material. So basically I was teaching a full-length college course.
I have never seen as many naked people in my entire life as I have preparing this presentation. And not just normal naked people, naked people without specific identifiable naked regions. It was completely confusing. But there were some interesting thoughts that came out of it: 1. Jamie Lee Curtis is genetically a male (XY chromosomes) 2. That Olympic runner, Caster Semenya, is actually intersex but didn't know it until the Olympics committee ran a gender test on her 3. If Jamie Lee Curtis is genetically a male, but due to Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (the inability of a person's body to react to the male sex hormone Androgen) looks and is "put together" like a female, which gender should she be attracted to in order to be a heterosexual?
But I digress...
The important thing is that I am done with my long battle with public speaking! I am done teaching college professor's courses for them! I am done making power-points about hermaphrodites! THAT was the last presentation!
But wait... haven't I said that before?
1 comment:
I believe it was Bill Cosby that made the comment that:
When the public was polled and the question put forth "What are you most afraid of? the overwhelming answer was
1.) public speaking
2.) death
So basically that means you'd rather be dead than giving the eulogy.
I doubt you are done. You will have a lifetime of public speaking of some kind. You just have too much good stuff to say.
karen
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