One Book, One Bettendorf

I believe it is possible to conquer the fear of public speaking, through practice and determination.

My belief began during high school after a nerve shattering experience at the podium of my first speech class. My presentation was about a review of the nervous system and I was an outstanding example. Because I believed in myself, I summoned the courage to continue my quest to face my own fear. The class was the start of a step toward the next level of learning about my own strengths and weaknesses and my inner fear.

One of the human fears is the fear associated with speaking out and speaking up in public, in a group discussion, in a debate or to family members. Many of our scholastically gifted members of society continue to suffer with the symptoms of this widely known fear.
Franklin D. Roosevelt said “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” Facing your own fear is a task within itself. It encompasses hard work, drive, guts, stamina and self-determination.

I challenged myself to contact the resources needed to develop my ability to overcome the fear of public speaking. Opening up a door to another level of self is one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

Conquering my own fear and motivating others to realize their unexplored abilities has been extremely rewarding. The belief in self, the exploration of inner talent and the discovery of a way to conquer human frailty is most important in shaping self-identity.
Preparation, practice and visualization have been key elements in my self-development. I imagine myself standing before an audience as a successful speaker and that the audience wants me to succeed.

As far back as middle school, I remember my desire to win the spelling bee and I was one of 9 finalists. The word “scissors” took on an extra “s” because of my fear of speaking and was mistaken for a misspelled word.

One of the Shakespearean philosophies of my life has been, “To thine own self be true.” Knowing my strengths and weaknesses has been the beginning of my own personal struggle toward self-improvement toward my fear of public speaking and prompted me to take action.

This I believe.

Gloria Avant-Moody

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 2nd, 2008 at 11:33 am and is filed under Bettendorf. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.