The April 2025 ActiveRain Challenge is called "Are you blooming or being a fool?." Our challenge, should we accept it, is to share an example of something in our life that bloomed, and/or to share an April fool's type story. After thinking about this nearly all month, this particular writer will be sharing something that bloomed.
I've written about this before, in this post, but I think this is an appropriate example of how something can bloom. Basically, this something started as an idea that grew until it became an action that grew into many actions. Those actions changed an extremely shy young woman afraid to speak in public (me) into a confident speaker which resulted in me having many more life opportunities than I would have. You could say I bloomed by changing just one thing.
All the way through high school, I was painfully shy. This was true in my job as a cashier in a department store, and was true as I started my career in corporate America. By the time I joined the corporate world, I was a little more comfortable talking, but only in one-on-one or two-on-one situations. I still was incredibly uncomfortable talking in front of groups which I defined as anything more than three people. If I had to talk, my stomach would hurt, I couldn't breath properly, etc. I realized this was going to be a big problem in terms of my future growth. If I ever wanted to move up the corporate ladder or just talk to people in public, I'd have to do something about this problem I had.
So I did.
I volunteered to introduce two people at a department conference. I thought that would be an easy way to get in front of people and say something that didn’t really reflect on me and my knowledge. If I could stand up in front of 50 or so people, and talk about someone’s bio, which would take a few minutes at the most, that would at least be a start.
So the day of the seminar, I wasn't going to be introducing my first person until about 10am. I was incredibly nervous because the event was much bigger than originally planned (hundreds not tens of attendees), and I was going to have to get up on a stage, up on a podium, and deliver my words from there. Not only that, the person I was introducing had a very difficult last name and I was so anxious that I was going to mess it up. I must have visited the rest room four times between 8 and 10am. I was a wreck. I couldn’t breathe properly. And then it was finally my turn. My legs were shaking. I made it up the stairs to the stage, and up to the podium, and I faced the audience and I pulled out the paper (hands shaking). And I started by reading the name of the next speaker. And….
I pronounced her difficult last name fine. But I messed up her first name. A simple first name. And I made a mistake. Then I started reading her bio and I realized at the same time I had messed up her first name, so I paused and said, “uh, er, I mean….” and I said her name correctly. But by now I was a nervous wreck until I looked up and saw the lady I was introducing grinning widely and mouthing to me, “It’s ok”. And I continued on, realizing that making a mistake didn’t really mean that much in the grand scheme of things. I finished my introduction, and went to sit down and thought that this really wasn’t so bad after all. And I went back up to the stage 15 minutes later to introduce my next person and I definitely did a better job.
This one thing, volunteering to introduce two people at a conference had a HUGE impact on my life, both in terms of work and in terms of personal life. There was no immediate change, but I realized that I could speak out in public and I’d live through it and I realized if I made an error, I would be ok.
I continued to work on improving my public speaking skills. I took courses which included making videos of us talking. I realized I thought I sounded a lot worse than I actually did. I also made a point to speak out in meetings, making small comments at first, and then going on to bigger things. I took debate classes as part of my college education. At work, I was asked to lead some training classes and of course I agreed. In my first class someone in attendance told me I was the most energetic speaker he had seen in over 20 years at the company. Wow, that helped! I learned to remember to breathe, and to start any presentation with something that would relax me and engage the audience.
Because of improving this one thing, you could say I bloomed. I went on to be promoted many times. I eventually led staff and project meetings with my own team. I gave presentations to small and large groups. And a few years before I retired, I even did a presentation in rhyme in front of a group of several hundred people.
I then selected a second career in real estate, partly based on the fact that it would allow me the ability to meet and talk to people. And then I started a woodworking business where I talk to potential customers on a regular basis. And you know what? Now I find I truly enjoy speaking regardless of the size of the group! What a turnaround.
Bottom line? If there is something you fear, it may be getting in your way of being all you can be, aka fully blooming into the person you are meant to be. By addressing my fear of speaking with every means possible, I was able to fully be me. And that is the bloomin' truth.
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