Overcoming Fear

A major obstacle for those on their way to the top is often the fear of public speaking. If we believe our fear is not normal or unique because we suffer strong feelings of mental and physical discomfort, actually we are wrong. The fear is normal to everybody, almost all the professionals performers or debater, even the politicians experience it.

They said, "We just train hard and control the feeling," and that's all.

We might still remember our first time being exposed to public speaking, after being asked to give a speech back days in school, or a story telling, or maybe giving an announcement on the stage before the other students. And we maybe could still remember how "gelabah" we were those days, hehe... Ada sesetengah orang sampai terhenti gugup tak dapat nak meneruskan ucapan dia di atas pentas, dan tidak perlu rasa malu, kerana ianya adalah normal.

The fear that we may feel may include the physical fear of the audience, the fear of ridicule, or of making a spectacle of yourself.. Sometimes we may think that what we have to say is not worth saying, or maybe it will bore the audience.

Fear of the audience is a mental attitude. And we, fortunately not born with attitudes, they were programmed from past experiences. If the thought of speaking in front of a group or audience terrifies us, then we may have had a bad speaking experience as a child. The event may have subjected us to criticism or ridicule by our friends, teachers, or parents. All the way it will result in a negative impact on our self-training.

I could still remember my old time in secondary school. Even I was in a boarding school (sekolah berasrama penuh), but there were not-so-good environment that might affect the building of good self-image. On that time, there were some nakal students who love to give titles or gelaran to those "nerds" (haha!) who were prominent and always up there on the stage giving speech and talks during assemblies or school's ceremonies. The gelaran such as, "gi-pang,"(gila pangkat) "char-pub," (cari publisiti) "gi-ku," (gila kuasa) made some other students who also have some talent in public speaking, avoid the chances because didn't want to be called with those gelaran.

Tapi masih ada sesetengah orang kata, lantak la apa orang nak cakap pun. Sebab akhirnya nanti latihan sebegini hanya memberi manfaat kepada mereka yang mencuba

Well, I guessed we still not that matured on those days... heh. Maklumlah, umur masih di peringkat rebung lagi.... Rasanya mereka yang suka panggil orang lain gipang those days pun dah pernah terpaksa bagi public speaking, at least in the job-interview... hahah

dengan budak-budak pengawas blok B sekolah dulu, sorang-sorang kena berucap

But alhamdulillah, I've been exposed earlier than that to the world of public speaking... even my mum always doubt about my sister's and my talent in public speaking. We were aggressive until nowadays and not too afraid to give speech before group of audience, and suprisingly opposite to our parents attitude. My late father was a quite person - not talking much, and my mother herself was not to be brave to go to the stage. Therefore, my mum once had said, "genetik mana la anak mak berdua ni ikut?" hehe...

Anyway, my sister was a debater in her school, Sekolah Tun Fatimah and currently working as a senior executive in Petronas Carigali. Before that while she was in UNSW, Sydney, she still actively giving speech and talks for forums or open debates. And for me, I managed to hold some positions in my days in UM as a student leader, and following her steps, also giving so many talks, speech and debate, attended many dialogues and forums under ministries and universities.

And what I can conclude today is, public speaking is fun!

And the excitement begins when we succeed in capturing the attention of the audience. How they laughed when we made jokes, they clapped when we say something about success or motivation, they also sank in deep emotional or sad when we said something that touched their heart...

And of course, the ability of public speaking is an essential of leadership..

ala, gambar aku gelap la pulak... huhu

Like I mentioned before, "The Pro just train hard in public speaking, and learn to control it"