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wheniwasaten-year-oldgirl,iwasonceaskedtodeliveraspeechtitled”arealtestinmylife”.totalkbeforethewholeclass!justimagine!thatwillbea“realtesttome,thensoterriblyshyastotrembleatthemerethoughtofutteringanywordwithsomanyeyessetuponme.
ihadnootherchoice,though.firstwastodraftthespeech.thisjustapieceofcaketome;iwasagoodwriter----somethingtopridemyselfin.thehardpartliedwithmyoralpresentation;toreadfromthepaperwasnotallowed;ihadtogivethespeechfrommymemoryandinfrontofsuchabigaudience!arealtrialbeganwhenistoodontheplatform,mymindblankandmylegstrembling.somewherefromthatcornercamesomegigglingorwhat.myeyesbecamedimandivaguelysensedsomecooldrippingdownmyface.
howmuchtimehadpassedby,ididn’tknow.myaudienceswerestillwaiting,patientlyandwithoutsignsofrushingme.graduallyfoundmyselfback,stammeringoutmyspeech.finallyifinished.afterwhatseemedtobeahundredyears,ifoundmyaudienceapplauding.imadeit!
fromthenon,myfearfortalkingbeforeanaudiencedisappeared.actuallywithmyconfidencebuildingup,inowturntobeagreatspeaker.lookingback,iknowthegreatestobstacleonourwaytosuccessisourfear;overcomeitandletourpotentialout,andwewillmaketoourgoals