Winner’s Passion: Public Speaking

Speech is power: Speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Speaking publicly is both a challenge and an opportunity in itself. Some are in-born with it while some develop over time. Well, I fall in the second category.
I was never a confident speaker. In fact, I was very shy in my childhood. Even in my school in Manipur, I didn’t talk much. There were talent search programs in my school where it was compulsory for everyone to participate and perform something on stage. However, I would be very scared to partake and avoid them.
However, gradually, this fear started evaporating when I moved to Delhi for high school. There, I started observing my fellow classmates and teachers, their communication skills, gestures, etc. Thereafter, I started speaking to them and slowly gained confidence. Having seen them participate in school fests, I also felt the need to try out something new. This urged me to indulge in the art of storytelling.
I started taking part in storytelling competitions. However, there was not much luck initially as I wasn’t very confident on my public speaking abilities. It all changed for me in my engineering college in Maharashtra where I got an opportunity to speak about personal life and I did that confidently. Thereon, I participated in inter-collegiate competitions and received accolades – both from faculty and peers. After my transition from academic to professional life, I participated in storytelling competitions held at various IT forums and won prizes, which further boosted my confidence.
One of the highlights of my early public speaking days was when I organized “The Art of Storytelling” workshop, which focused on ‘motivating ourselves to do better personally and professionally’. People started familiarizing with the story. I won another prize, this time at an event organized by my company. I still get invites from my school and college to speak on motivational topics, which I speak happily.
Majority of my storytelling focuses on the dreams and ambitions of people have and how they can accomplish them. It primarily revolves around inspiring yourself to achieve what you want in life.
Some of the key leaders who have inspired me as a speaker include Martin Luther King Jr. and Robin Sharma. Especially, Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech — “I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” – was truly inspiring to me. I attended a speech by Robin Sharma where he made the non-listeners pay attention to him. The stand-up shows are a lesson for all of us on how to keep the audience engaged for a length of time.

As told to Dipanjan Mitra, Content Executive-Enterprise Technology, ITNEXT