If you ask me whether you should apply for the John Forrest Award, I assure you it would change your life.
As a PhD student at the University of Cambridge and Niab, I’m used to communicating my research to expert and non-expert audiences. Yet, arriving at Madingley Hall on a cold January morning to work on my technique, I could imagine a thousand places I would rather have been. Public speaking, after spiders, has long been one of my greatest fears, but I was encouraged to learn that among the course participants, I was not alone.
I could write several pages on all I took away from the course. However, less than a week later, I had the opportunity to put it into practice. Each year, I attend a University conference at which students approaching the end of their degrees are expected to introduce their theses in just one minute. This year, it was my turn.
Before participating in the course, I would have been sick with nerves. On the day, I felt confident and composed. For the first time, with a talk hanging over me, I could concentrate on the other speakers’ presentations and even spot examples of poor communication, which not only would I have been ignorant to in previous years, but which reminded me not to make the same mistakes myself.
Of course, a minute wasn’t nearly long enough to flex my new skills, but if I could pass on one piece of tested advice to other nervous speakers, it would be to stretch your fingers behind your back before you start speaking; no one will see you do it, but it might make all the difference.