Public Speaking Experience

Since this week's class was about public speaking, I thought I'd share my own experience on it. If you know me, you would never guess that I have done public speaking. As far as I can remember, one of the first few times I went for public speaking was when I was eleven years old (Standard five). It was not exactly public speaking, but a story telling competition.

In conjunction with the "English language week", my school had organized a story telling competition, an annual ritual the school dutifully abided by. When I was in standard five, my English teacher, Miss Ngoh, asked for volunteers to participate in the competition. Obviously suicidal at that point, I raised my hand to volunteer. We were told to pick a story and we were "auditioned" in front of the whole class before we were eligible to join the competition.

I still remember my mother helping me choose a quirky poem written by Roald Dahl for me. It was entitled "The Ant Eater". She thought it would be unusual as it was a corny story written as a poem, unlike any other conventional story. Choosing a story was not the only obstacle. Preparing for it was even worse. My pronunciation, my gestures, my tone and pitch all needed to be perfected to suit the poem. There were many occasions where my panic button went off, just thinking about being on stage!( I did not know what to expect eventhough I did dance on stage once in standard one but I could not remember how that felt).

I was the only one out of five other hopefuls who had volunteered, to be selected. After a few more weeks of hard work, practice and guidance from both my teacher and my mother, the day I was waiting for (now dreading) finally arrived.

During the competition, I broke out in cold sweat; I was afraid of so many things. What if I forgot my words? What if I pass out even before I reach the microphone? When it was almost my turn, I had to calm myself down by giving myself a little "pep talk" (intrapersonal communication). I told myself that I would be fine, that I could do it. When it was my turn, I put on a brave front and walked towards the microphone, and began.

Once I was done, I was relieved. I was happy with my performance, I could say that I did well. No fumbles, no unnecessary pauses. A few weeks after the competition, during assembly, the winners of the competition were announced and trophies were given. The teacher announced from tenth place, slowly progressing to first place. Name after name, except mine, was called out. Finally when she announced second place( still not my name!) my heart sank.

Then it was announced"first place goes to..... Hooi Kit Wei!" I was stunned. I sat there with my mouth gaping open, full of disbelief that I was the champion. I stood up and raced towards the stage, went up, and was congratulated by the teacher. TRIUMPH!...such a sweet and irreplaceable feeling!

That was seven years ago. The experience was a real eye opener. I never knew that I had it in me; the confidence, the expression, the feel, it all seemed natural. However, when I proceeded to secondary school I never participated in any form of public speaking. Now that I am in college, it seems like most subjects require us to do public speaking and hopefully, I will be good enough to be who I was seven years ago.


Written by,
Hooi Kit Wei