The countdown has begun, yet there are still so many things on the to-do list – countless follow-up emails, making sure everyone is doing their tasks, and fixing everything that’s not right. With a to-do list that grows every time I check something, my Google doc to write a script remains blank.
Speaking is scary. Public speaking is even worse – an absolute nightmare. Words come out all jumbled together, and coming up with something on the spot? I’d definitely forget something or use the wrong phrase. That’s when a script comes in handy because you have all the time you need to think about what you want to say and reword it if necessarily, before you have to speak. The only downside is you have to set aside the time to write the script.
Friday, 12:01am: The first words appeared on my Google doc – “Friday Introductions”. The actual content didn’t actually transfer from my brain to the doc until 1:25am, but once that process started, ideas just started popping up. By 2:22am, I had my Friday and Saturday notes all ready. What a relief…or so I thought.
The day rolled in, and although my notes were ready, my brain was not. It wanted a full script written out and it remembered that I still have to talk in front of everyone. My stomach would not let me eat anything without being upset. My mouth would practice saying the words silently to make sure the words don’t come out jumbled together, but still, there was nothing to help me get out of having to speak.
In the meantime, my eyes spotted a podium in the corner. A podium to stand between me and everyone else. A podium to hide my three pages of notes. I quickly moved the podium out of the corner so that it was ready for me to use. Whew! This was all there is to protect me, but it will have to do. Friday’s introductions went well, and Saturday’s did as well, but time flew by too quickly – it was time to write my script for Sunday and Monday.
With the day packed with activities, Sunday’s notes started at 2:20am and Monday’s…even later. To make matters worse, it had to be handwritten! Luckily, Sunday’s notes was for a presentation, so a lot of the content was already on the slides. Sunday was also the scariest day out of the four days though (my stomach can confirm), since there were so many parts that had to go into the presentation. I didn’t have enough time to practice and even forgot a whole chunk of what I had written and had to go back to the first slide! Luckily, the podium served as my protection again, hiding my shaking hands and trembling legs.
Once Sunday’s presentation was over, my stomach was happy. The food suddenly tasted so much better and was much more digestible. I joined the podium one last time on Monday, which I had written a full script for. I had arrows pointing everywhere on my paper since I kept forgetting some things I had to say, in addition to a lot of crossed off text and carets to add in words. I read the script word for word, yet I still forgot to read my very last line: Thank you everyone again for joining us this weekend, and we hope you had a great time.
I had already left the podium and sat down when I realized, but now, at least I can finally eat in peace.