Finding My Voice

His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
-Lose Yourself by the great Eminem

That's exactly how I felt the first time I had to give a big presentation. I was 20 years old, presenting to the board of directors of the hospital where I had been doing my senior college research project.

And then I went completely blank.

My team-mate had to take over while I disappeared into the background with my heart pounding and palms sweating. The next day, I decided that I had to face my fears and become an awesome public speaker. Here's the story of what happened next.

1. Becoming more comfortable with impromtu speaking: I started forcing myself to go up and speak to professors and classmates after class to discuss the day's insights and reflections.

2. Opening up to criticism: One of the big fears was around being ridiculed and made fun of. So I volunteered to do all of my team presentations from that point on to get into the habit of it.