I have to finally admit it, I am not a good public speaker. Sure, I can write a mean speech and a fairly funny comic strip, but when it comes to standing in front of a group of people to tell them something about myself or my business, I fail miserably. I’ll think of something good to say, write it down in notes, hone my speech and practice in front of a mirror, add a few jokes and stories, but then, when the moment of truth arrives, I freeze and stammer and forget just about everything funny or informative I was about to say. Oh I’ve tried all the things I learned in my college public speaking course, like picturing the people you are speaking to in their underwear, but that only makes it more difficult to discuss the topic I was trying to get across in the first place.
It doesn’t matter the size of the group either, whether it is 100, 1000 or even 6, I just can’t seem to give the speech as it was intended. I can talk to people one on one just fine, but put me in front of a group of people and forget it, stammer time (cue music from the 80’s). So I guess I will just continue to be a writer and artist and leave the public speaking to others who are good at it. Maybe the next time I have to do it, I will just get a projector and type out my speech…yeah, that’ll work.