Article, Public Speaking

Many people would go to almost any length to avoid doing public speaking. Whether it's for school, for work, charity or something else; public speaking makes most of us at least slightly nervous. Some are so terrified of being up on stage that they start sweating and shaking from the mere thought. But somehow many people who really don't like speaking in public still get it done and well. So how do they do it?

I'll let you in on a secret -I'm always nervous when I go out on stage, when I do public performances of any kind including public speaking. But nobody's the wiser. Every single one of the people around me think I've got it all figured out and not a care in the world.
You'd be surprised to know how many good speakers really are nervous when performing, even if we seek out those kind of situations or work in those kinds of jobs. Nerves do not have to make you into a bad speaker.

So what to do? Well, there's tons of stuff of course and different things work better for different people. But here's some of it:

Remember that you're not speaking to a bunch of people, you're actually talking to a group of persons. If you take away everyone but say a friend from that crows, you're only really talking like you do everyday. That's really what the situation is. You're just talking to somebody, this time there happens to be several somebodies, but they're still just persons listening to what you've got to say. Think on the positive aspects of speaking in public. You get to say what you have to say and nobody will probably interrupt you, you've got the floor, you've got the time, nobody but you gets to speak when you do. In a way -you've got the power.

Also as I said, you're just talking to people. Try and act like it. Don't make the speech into a you and them scenario, talk with them -throw out questions, side comments, a joke or two, these aren't just to loosen up the crowd, they're for your benefit as well to get back to a healthy perspective on the situation. Instead of focusing your eyes on a far away inanimate target, look at the people. Find the friendly faces in the crowd and speak to them as if you were just talking to a friend about a subject that inspires you (in a longer speech than normal yeah, but at least they won't interrupt you). Encourage questions if it's allowed because that makes the speech even more of a conversation.

Know your subject, don't necessarily know your speech. Power point presentations are great because if you lose your way you can just take a moment and check your keywords on the screen. It's doubly great because then you don't have to have too complex notes on you and no papers that rattle.

Don't be afraid of silence. Often when speaking in public we tend to talk really fast if we do know our subject (if we lose our way, it's the hemming and hawing instead), don't be afraid to make pauses and let something you've said sink in. Take a sip of water, study your notes in peace, just close your mouth, look out the window for a moment and breathe.

Moving around is good, so is keeping something in your hand like a pen. An old favorite of mine is taking a seat on top of the desk or the stage or whatever's in front if that's allowed (I usually don't ask, but some teachers frown on that stuff so you might wanna clear it with them first) to get a more casual feel going. Then you can move away, doodle on the board, make gestures with your hands and so on.

Here's the key element to remember though: You're not making a speech, you're telling people about something that you know about that may or may not interest them but that you want to speak of anyway and now you can, because it's your show.

Alright, that's the loooong and not so short of it.
Good luck with your continued speaking!

^^

Story, Serenity

She usually came in late autumn. Just when the last leaves were giving way to the mighty storm winds of the west. She never stayed for more than a few months and always left as the first flower broke through the ground. She came from the north and officially it was to avoid the cold weather of her homeland that she visited each season, but somehow people didn’t quite believe that one. Because when she came the winter intensified. Not the cold or the snow, but the Winter. The winter magics of snowballs and snowmen, candlelit evenings and warm cocoa by the fire. It was like the whole town came to a different sort of life, a fairytale existence. She didn’t even need to be physically present to make a change in people’s attitudes about their lives. All it usually took was the first sighting of her in one of the local stores and the whole population would start to simmer and bubble with new found joie de vivre. There were parties and dancing, dinners and activities. People went to visit each other more frequently, started to cook so that the food would always be enough for at least one person more around the dinner table. Few ever spoke about it of course, but everybody knew that it was ‘that northern lady’ that did it. No one knew how or why or what exactly happened, but each time you met her or even saw her you came away feeling more alive, more human than ever. But like with all the old magics you didn’t talk about it too much for fear it would somehow break the spell.

She had long auburn hair and eyes like the clear ice of the river at high winter. When she smiled she did it with her whole face and when she laughed you could hear it for blocks away. She always had a kind word for every person and if ever there was some trouble stirring up in the community she just happened to be there to stand up for the wronged and soothe the troubled spirits. She was a healer too, or that was how the whispers went. When she treated it a blooded nose stopped running, a cut wound mended without a scar and worn out muscles were warmed by her warm singing and her red hot palms. Hot cocoa was her trademark. If and when you saw her out at a café somewhere it was sipping some hot cocoa with whipped cream and marshmallows while reading a book, writing something down with a small mysterious smile on her lips, talking with someone in an animate manner or just looking out on the people and the world with serenity written on her face.

Some said she was royalty from some distant line that no one had heard about. Maybe the grand daughter of Anastasia or some other exiled heir to a far away throne. Others, often the oldest people and the ones with roots in some mysticism or another claimed that she was a fallen goddess that had chosen to walk on Earth in human form to help her people and charges. Or that she was a powerful sorceress that you might do well to stay away from if you were not of the purest heart and intentions. Other still said that she was simply a drifting spirit who’s primary purpose in life was to experience and to share her experiences with the world. A few disgruntled voices meant that she was nothing but a traveling writer looking for inspiration and her magics was just the work of overactive imaginations and wishful thinking. But they all watched and listened as she came every autumn. They watched and listened as she left every spring. And they all kept quiet once she left. Guarding the magic for another season until the time when she would return and brighten their spirits once more.

Random, I Am in Truth a Marvellous Creation

I have two legs: To take me on a trip around the world, running silently through a forest, striding with vigor through the mountains of old, dancing the hours of the night away.

I have two feet: To walk in my own shoes without apologies, to choose my own paths without regret, fear or hesitation.

I have two arms: To hold a loved one close to me and never let go, to cradle a child in silent comfort, to catch a stranger if they should fall.

I have two hands: To create things of might and beauty, to sooth a tender neck, to caress a troubled shoulder, to hold another above the water. In no case will I let you drown if I can prevent it.

I have two shoulders: To carry some of your load if you let me, to lift the heavens themselves so they do not come crashing down on the defenseless, to way the scales of justice equally.

I have two ears: To hear a cry drifting in the night, to hear a plea, a pardon, an endearment, to hear the wind and the voices of the heart.

I have two eyes: To see clearly the world around me, to see truth and never blink at what I see, to wonder at the marvels of the world and cry tears of joy.

I have one nose: To smell the flowers in the summer air, the scent of newly baked bread made with love, to smell out the bad and know that it has no place in my presence.

I have one mouth: To speak softly, to sing gently, to whisper words of wisdom, to kiss a cheek, a forehead or expectant lips.

I have one mind: To invent new things of wonder, to think up fairytales and music, to understand that I am one, but not alone.

I have one heart: To open up to every single creature, to love without boundaries, to know what living is all about and rejoice at the wonders of the world.

I have one soul: That is what I am most grateful for, that is what I treasure most, that is my pride and joy. I have a soul and it knows me and all of you. I have a soul and so have you. We are one and that is the truest of all wonders.

Article, Get Online or Get Out?

“If you don’t have a webpage you don’t exist.” Those are words I’ve heard a thousand times. Heard them, read them, said them and as you know -the more something is repeated the closer it gets to being the truth. 

In a world of multinational companies, international sales markets and globalization, anything that can shrink the world for your company, organization or one man firm is a good thing. Anything that brings you closer to your target group is good. And as we all know easy is a keyword for clients, no matter what product they’re after. Easy, fast and inexpensive.

Once we know what we can get and how, then we can start spending some money. If there is an easy way to get in touch with the supplier from start to finish of course. That’s why company’s have to go online. If you have a computer or at least easy access to one your easiest way of finding the right supplier of a product or service is googling your query and surf in on one of the many pages that are bound to appear.

Fine-tuning your search will hopefully lead to the best suppliers for the goods you’re after and then it’s basically a done deal. If, IF the company’s homepage is attractive, speedy, easily navigated and with interesting content.

That’s how you make business work -supply what’s demanded.

Text, Sleeping in Silence (Travel)

When I was young and traveling with my family I used to look at all of these travelers and backpackers at the airport and think they were so, very, cool. The way they dressed, the way they moved, the way they carried around a million things, listening to a Walkman while juggling water, chips and literature from an airport store. They looked so important somehow these people. They didn't have any suits or fancy briefcases, but they looked as if they were going places for real, learning about life, exploring the world. They seemed to somehow be content within themselves. Young bodies, old eyes and laughing faces. They didn't care about convention either. Sure they were friendly and courteous, but they did what they wanted to.

The girl snuggling up with her worn out jeans and bare feet on the cushy lounge chair overlooking the airport hall with a Kafka book in hand, humming some strange tune I'd never heard before. The guys taking turns sleeping on a row of stuffed chairs with metal edges. Two of them playing cards to keep each other awake while their buddies slept so that everyone would get their sleep and no one would get their luggage stolen. The lone, young woman dressed all in white linen hurriedly walking along to the international flights with her cabin bag rolling behind her and her tickets kept in a tight grip. The guy catching a ride with our taxi to the layover hotel. Young people going places. I used to imagine where they had been, where they were going, what they thought and felt as they waited twelve hours straight for their flights to start up again. Going out, going home, going somewhere...

Then of course it was my turn to grow up, my turn to travel and see the world on my own. But it's funny, even after I've been places, seen and done amazing things I still get that magical feeling when I look at young travelers at the airport. Even when I've been the one dressed all in white after the hottest summer ever at the continent to land in Stockholm and almost freeze to death in the pouring rain outside, waiting for the taxi cab to -please come pick me up soon. When I myself have gotten to the point when traveling that I simply didn't care anymore, laid down on those metal edged chairs with my laptop in a firm grip as my pillow, praying that I would hear the alarm go off before my flight while listening to my favorite travel CD. Wishing fervently for silence at the same time, just needing to rest and sleep undisturbed by motor sounds and air sickness and rowdy, drunken people on vacation.

I've crept up in those lounge chairs myself with sandy, naked feet, reading a paperback book, ignoring the looks from the business travelers. They'd do it too, given half a chance. I've waited 2 hours for flights, I've waited 13. And lord knows I didn't care about the coolness factor when my parents treated me to a layover at a hotel that once. The hotel concierge calling me 'miss' which is more or less unheard of in Sweden barely rated a raised eyebrow because in just a few minutes I would finally be sleeping in a soft, comfortable bed, in silence.

I want to feel the magic. I want to go again!

Poem, No More Talking

I’d ask you for forgiveness,
but really, what is there to forgive?
If you thought that my love
was like your love,
then you were mistaken.
I always said I was a loner, didn’t I?

I’d ask you to respect my choice,
but really, what was in the choosing?
I never chose the life I lead, it chose me.
I’d ask you to remember
all the good times with the bad.
But it’s not up to me to decide
what you think of me,
from now on.
As it wasn’t in the past.
I always said we must make our own way, didn’t I?

I’d ask you not to cry.
I’d ask you not to lie.
I’d ask you not to curse me.
I’d ask you to -please try.
But nothing I ask will take these words
and change them from Goodbye.
Though I said I’d always love you, didn’t I?