In the Nick of Time

   Today was our group presentation to our North American Leadership Team, our recommendation for a holistic strategy for leveraging social media to bring the vision of our brand to life. The day we've been working diligently toward for the last 2 months. And we were ready; feeling confident about the recommendations we were making to our senior leaders. Aaaand of course today would be the day that I would wake up sick. My throat was swollen & sore, my head ached & was full of ickyness, and I could NOT stop sneezing

   Undeterred (okay, MOSTLY undeterred), I got up early, sucked it up & headed to work. We were first up on the agenda, presenting from 9-10, and then answering questions and debating our recommendations until 10:30. I figured I could get through that & then have the rest of the day to sit & enjoy the other presentations. (Apologies to everyone whose presentations I sneezed through incessantly. Clearly, you were nothing at which to sneeze!) Frankly, I am SO GLAD my body fought off the pestilence as long as it did.

   I had spent a good deal of time reviewing my talking points & figuring out exactly what I wanted to say & how to say it, to boost my confidence. Although I am frequently given the feedback that I don't SEEM nervous, it's there. I put a lot of pressure on myself to get it just right. (My knees were shivering. Hope no one noticed.)

   The presentation gods were smiling upon me, though I had a couple of small stumbles. What I felt really good about, though, was the final 30 minutes. As counterintuitive as it seems, it is so much easier for me to speak "off-script" on a topic I know well, rather than putting pressure on myself to memorize talking points in an effort to make sure I don't leave anything out. When I'm speaking off the cuff, my passion on the topic comes across. The feedback I received last year in CLDP supports this, and if I had to bet on what I'll hear during the debrief tomorrow, that's where my money is. I'm not sure how to resolve this, because there ARE key points I had to remember to cover. Hmm... my dilemma. I don't think I'll ever be a really great presenter (that's realism, not pessimism), but I do like the challenge.
   I think the key is to get into the zone where you're not thinking about what you want to say, you just say it. You get so into the flow & the moment that it just unfolds as if it were effortless. I can do that with yoga & drawing, occasionally running. Not with speaking yet.

   In any case, I was really pleased with the response we got from the audience, most especially that of Dave Hall himself. He was sitting right in the middle of the room, smiling & nodding as we spoke, and if that doesn't give you confidence, I don't know what will. I think he believed in our point of view. He even called me "Jen."

   After work I attempted to oust my germs with a triple whammy of yoga, swimming & sauna. I'm pretty sure it didn't work. But I'll know in the morning... G'night!