White Wigs and the Terror of Middle School
Let’s set a scene.
A typical middle school classroom, circa mid-1990s. Posters of important moments in US history line the walls. [translation: dead white dudes doing old dead white dude stuff]. It is 9:43am, and second period is about to begin. The classroom is weirdly quiet today. The air is thick with nerves, the smell of adolescent sweat, and panic. For today is “Declaration of Independence” Day. And these 13-year-olds are about to stand and deliver.
For so many of us, this was our first public speaking experience. Memorizing a text we couldn’t connect to, getting little to no guidance or coaching, and then being thrown to like, the literal wolves omg. We stood (some in regrettable costumes and wigs made of cotton balls), spoke what we could remember, heard the giggling and saw the boredom of our classmates, and decided then and there that we were:
Terrible at public speaking and were never going to do it agaaaaain!!!!!
But… dammit… we grew up. And got jobs or joined boards or started our own companies. And once again we were faced with a cold, hard truth. We had to talk in front of people. There was no way out.
So what’s the good news here? Is there a magic “forget everything that happened in middle school” pill? Yes!
J/k.
No, there isn’t. But there are practical and actionable tools that can work on the subconscious mind, the physical body, and the nervous system that can move you from “I hate Thomas Jefferson and the horse he rode in on” to “Daaaaaamn they should have let me write that thing. I’m goooood!”
For a fun conversation breaking down some of these experiences and what to do next, check out my interview with Jennifer Walter on The Scenic Route Podcast.
Listen here.
You got this,
Adriana
Ps. When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for… people to do the public speaking, oft times they shalt need a coach. And upon such times, it shall behoove them to visit a site upon the web. And this site shall be thusly.
