Effective
communication skills are important for me because that will ensure that people
will give me their listening ears and their utmost attention. I learnt this
bitter lesson when I was just four years old. It was my first storytelling competition
when I was in preschool. It was held in a community centre with a large
audience. I was prepared but not as well prepared as my competing peers. Till
the last minute, I was trying to memorise my story and had absolutely no time
to collect myself and gather my nerves. I was feeling rather nervous and
developed sweaty palms. My name was called and I was expected to go up on
stage. As I walked up to stage, I felt so nervous that I started fidgeting.
Later due to that fear, I also failed to keep eye contact with the audience. I learnt later on that failing to keep eye contact would break the communication thread between the sender (myself) and the receiver (the audience). The lack of eye
contact not only portrayed my fear but also my lack of confidence due to
unpreparedness. I was engulfed with stage fright right at that moment and I also unfortunately forgot my lines. I started to stammer and the audience started to laugh. I felt
easy tears well up in my eyes and ran down the stage. After that unforgettable incident, together with my parents’ and teachers’ support, I built up my confidence by practicing
how I would present myself in front of a mirror. I always ensured that I was
well-prepared in every storytelling competition by presenting in front of my
family and relatives. I also made sure that I had good eye contact and
enthusiasm when I was speaking so that I could engage my listeners and engage an active communication thread between the listener and myself.
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| Posing with my teachers, with the trophy for the 1st prize |
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| With my proud parents |
This lesson, which I
learnt the hard way, has been a blessing for me as I find effective
communication skills part of the very breath I breathe in. Today the effective communication skills that I have learnt and improved myself on has enabled me to speak confidently in front of a crowd, capture their attention and most importantly convey my desired messaged across effectively.
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| One of my storytelling competitions when I was six years old |
PS: Since that day, I have always clinched the first prize for any storytelling competition. I hope that comment was not too boastful? LOL;)
Hello Loshini!
ReplyDeleteIt was really very interesting reading your blog post because you not only listed a personal example, but also brought up salient points about effective communication!
Indeed, effective communication ensures that your intended message is projected clearly to the audience! A storytelling competition is indeed a great way to test communication skills! I feel really sad that your audience actually laughed at a 4 year old trying her best to tell a story. On the other hand, I feel really envious and proud that you stepped up and proved the audience wrong with your numerous storytelling accolades! Good on you Loshini!
I guess I should not be too surprised of your storytelling accomplishments since you're such a chatty person but I really am! I would think that as a Geog student you would be more....mountain oriented. Nonetheless, I am pleasantly surprised and would wish to see you in action should the chance ever arise!
Cheers Loshini!
Thanks Titus:)
DeleteHi Loshini,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing with us a short and interesting story from your childhood. It must have been an unpleasant experience, but seeing how comfortable and confident you are speaking to an audience now, I guess you have matured greatly due to that incident:)
Happy cny!
Thanks Eileen:)
DeleteHey Loshini! Such cute pictures you have of yourself lol. Those are always a nice addition to a story. As Eileen has mentioned, you've obviously blossomed quite a lot in terms of public speaking since. It's interesting to see how you can look back on old memories like that and identify them as real-life lessons in effective communication.
ReplyDeleteWith me, I have to say it's quite the opposite. I used to be really active in primary school, volunteering to perform on stage all the time (Random sidenote: I remember I portrayed the tortoise in the classic tortoise and the hair fable in maybe P3 and my tortoise shell fell off halfway through the performance.) but I have sadly since degenerated greatly lol.
Anyway I actually think storytelling is a true art. I feel that from primary school all the way into jc, we're being taught how to write essays by a time-tested format which I think is really sad because it shapes the way we communicate as well. We get so used to breaking down our essays into different sections that if most of use were to tell a story we would be too caught up in organizing it in our head and not be able to deliver it as spontaneously as we should. I believe the same brainfreeze moment pops up in presentations as well. Well ofcourse such dilemmas pertain to the lesser of us who are not gifted with the gift of gab as you clearly are lol!
thanks ariele:)
DeleteHey Loshini,
ReplyDeleteit's really heartwarming to see how you've picked yourself up from fiascos, and try to make the most out of unpleasant experiences to become the awesome you today (:
Btw, I love the approach you've taken! By posting with close reference to personal experience, and for sharing your old photographs with us. Thanks!
thanks kristyn:)
DeleteHi Loshy
ReplyDeleteI love your blog post! I've known you for so many years but this is the first time I've heard of this story. I can just imagine a frightened, trembling little girl on stage not making eye-contact. I'm glad that you've learned from your past errors and become the articulate, eloquent speaker you are now!
I too believe that the key to good communication is the engagement of your audience. Without engaging your audience's attention, even the best speech would have no impact.
Once again I really enjoyed this 'blast from the past'. I hope to see more pictures soon!!
T
thanks dush:)
DeleteHi Loshini, you are a really brave girl! I don't remember having the courage to talk in front of just a few people when I was a child but you actually went up the stage for a story telling competition. Omg, respect!
ReplyDeleteYou have made 2 important points there. Having confidence and capturing the audience attention are extremely important for effective communication. By showing confidence, it would be much easier to grab the audience attention. Then it would be easier to bring the message across!
I am really impressed by your achievements in story telling! Maybe you can tell us a story during the next lesson? Haha! Just kidding. (;
thanks Jian Min
DeleteThank you, Loshini, for sharing the experience with your initial story-telling contest, and in that way, conveying what you see as being vital for you in developing further your comm skills. I appreciate the clarity ad conciseness of this "telling," and your fine focus. (Obviously, you are an experienced story-teller now!) The photos from the past add to the story as well.
ReplyDeleteMy only suggestion for this story, in order to make it more robust, would be that you might have given us some indication as to what that first story was about. You must remember. That sort of "detail," adding more concrete imagery to this telling, would have acted as a counterpoint to the description of skills and behaviors.
Do you see what I mean?
Hi Brad:)Thank you for your comments. However I do not understand what the second paragraph of your comments meant. I would really appreciate it if you could further elaborate what my mistake is again so I may correct it accordingly and learn from it. Thanks again Brad!
DeleteHi Loshini. Wow, I cannot imagine the nervous Loshini! I thought you are always a confident can't stop talking girl. Anyway, my opinion is, it is very good to have a small mistake in the past that reminds you of something important. I was a storyteller too when I was in primary. In fact, I did not feel nervous so I thought I was quite good at it. However I didn't win. I didn't realize that beside confident, I should have other aspects as well, such as clarity, coherence (and other cs). Anyway, keep on storytelling. The world needs your can't-stop-talking-ness :D
ReplyDeletethanks dear:)
DeleteHey Loshini,
ReplyDeleteIn a nutshell, what was your story about, the one you had to tell as a child, in that first contest?