There was a Parsi girl in my class whose stage presence was so confident. On inquiry, I learned from her she had taken a course in public speaking. That did interest me. I desperately wanted to do a course. The financial situation did not permit this luxury. And forever I remained an untrained, untutored ‘speaker’ with rough edges.

If you can call an utterance of a few words and sentences to a gathering of around 15 or so as ‘public speech,’ the first one I managed to give was when I was transferred from a city location to a rural location. Send-off parties, as they are called. In the rural scenario, however, frequently as the manager of the outfit, I would be called to address villagers in a meeting. Always such talks will be in the local language, i.e., Tamil. Occasionally, some other Government Officials would be present. Once, a large gathering had to be addressed where a senior politician was also present. Such events naturally boosted my confidence little by little.

The next send-off party was when I was transferred from the rural center, where I had the difficulty and distinction of addressing a huge gathering of six people apart from me. Anyway, here too, one had to organize one’s thoughts.

These send-offs became frequent. Not my transfers alone. But the transfer of any other staff working under me. The shaking legs had steadied a bit with such addresses to bigger and bigger gatherings.

Then came the meetings where senior officials would be present. It might be a presentation of a paper or informing the developments or performance. One had to be fairly precise here and cogent and clear. The lady chief under whom I was working gave me a huge bit of confidence and trust in this regard. She had even given me opportunities to write articles and run a house magazine. All these add up.

So, it is not our own efforts alone, but the encouragement of others around you in the initial stages that would build up the nerve needed for public speaking.

Continued in 238. Not So Loudspeaker - Part 4