Good Thing I Don't Have Stage Fright

Last night, I had my first "speaking engagement." Wow. It feels so grown up to say that.

When I was in high school, I spent a year as a founding member of the a 4H club centered around backyard/egg-laying {as opposed to meat} chickens. It was a great experience for me, branching out to try new things, though at the end of the day, I realized that agriculture and chickens were not my strongest gifts. Anyway, when I was in it, there were 6 members plus me.

Last night, when I stood before them to tell my story of how I wrote Those Who Trespass, there were 23 members. {And I had only brought 18 book signing bookmarks.} It's a good thing I don't have stage fright.

In fact, I like being in front of people. Blame it on my firstborn status. I got over any and all stage-fright when I was in theater, and being a worship leader means that the stage is a natural extension of the rest of the room for me.

I wrote a rough draft of my speech, but I didn't bring it. Instead, I honed the points I had wanted to make and practiced as I drove the hour to my hometown. I sketched out the points, but, in the end, I did it noteless. Not because I don't like notes {who doesn't like notes?!}, but because notes and I have a complicated past. They tend to make me talk fast and keep referring to the paper. Which actually gets worse the more I practice, especially the talking fast part.

I spoke about writing and about the work it takes to pursue a dream. I talked about how I chose to work on my writing instead of spending those hours on Netflix. I invited questions. {First question: What's the title? Me: mental #facepalm}

It was an overall great experience. I enjoyed it, and it definitely solidified my suspicion that I love speaking in front of people. Hopefully I get to do that more in the future. :)