Public Speaking

Since I was in early Junior High, I have always enjoyed public speaking. It's not something I am naturally good at or even something I always loved to do. In fact, when I went up in front of a class to give my first speech of my life, I broke out in a nervous sweat. My stomach began to churn, and I nearly lost my mind. However, the adrenaline rush I received from the horrible presentation was addicting.

Since this experience, I have began looking for opportunities to speak in public at any chance I received. Rather that was speaking at conferences or hosting Arkansas Razorback pep rallies this semester, I have been looking for opportunities to speak for quite some time. The photo seen below shows me right before the most recent pep rally two weeks ago, and the video shows me at a state conference during my senior year in high school. What you can't see in this video is the sweat under my shirt, the shaking of my feet, or the fact that I went completely blank on every word right as I stood up to grab the microphone. Although, once I began to speak my first word, it all came back to me as the adrenaline rushed to me head.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not an incredible speaker. I don't believe i'm naturally given some gift or that I will pursue a motivational speaking career. However, it is something I enjoy doing and that is the most valuable thing I have learned from this "hobby," so to speak. I find a sense of self gratification in speaking and enjoy finding something that scares me to death, then doing it. While this isn't an article on snowboarding, playing guitar, or riding a bike, public speaking is something I absolutely consider a hobby.