How I learned public speaking without a mentor, youtube or online courses.

I vividly remember that day at school. My teacher had assigned me to deliver a speech assuming that I would do great because I was good in studies. Though I had my apprehensions, I said 'Yes' not knowing exactly what I was signing up for.I prepared the speech, memorised it, repeated it over and over in at home till I was sure I could not get it wrong. When the day came, I was sure I would do good. But when I stepped into the auditorium, the vibe hit me differently. It was nothing like I had been imagining. Speaking in front of your siblings is different from speaking in front of a crowd. I had to speak in front of 500+ people and I could feel my throat drying up.My name was called and I rushed to the podium. Despite of the pounding heart, trembling legs and sweaty forehead body, I started speaking with the sole aim of finishing it up as soon as I could. But fate had some other plans. I must have been in the middle of my speech when I suddenly forgot the next line. Soon, it felt someone had deleted the script from my mind. I could not remember a word. There was an uneasy calm in the hall. I did not know what to do. It felt like a nightmare. I could feel tears rolling down my eyes. Those moments felt like eternity. When I look back, I regard them as some of my most life-defining moments. In a few seconds, I felt my teacher's hand on my shoulder. She tried her best to console me. But I was not able to process what had happened.Some moments leave an indelible mark on you. They change you. When I ask my students what makes them fear public speaking, they usually trace it back to their school life when they were asked to present that speech and things did not go as expected. I had a choice that day like so many others. I could remember the humiliation I faced and never dare tp speak again but I did the exact opposite. I pledged to be a better public speaker. It became my obsession. Nobody taught public speaking in our part of the world those days. The incident happened a lot before Youtube and online courses. I had to teach public speaking to myself and, in this blog, I will walk you through how I did it.

1. Earnest desire to learn: 'He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.' This Friedrich Nietzsche quote underlines a cardinal principle of human behaviour. Words like inner calling, purpose, meaning, passion, love etc have a visceral effect on us. That incident changed something deep within me. I felt public speaking drawing me closer. I felt a calling for it. I looked for mentors. There were none. Not that we did not have good public speakers around. There were many. I grew up watching Molvis delivering passionate sermons from the pulpits of mosques. Public speaking was considered a talent and not everyone is talented. It was a lot later in life that I realised that it is learnable. A person can start from zero and end up as a pro speaker.

2. Willingness to be laughed at: The first step to success, for me, was the acknowledgment that I was not good enough. I knew I would be laughed at and the story I kept repeating to myself was that I was under training. It was alright if people see my beginning as my only reality. Even the greatest people in the world started as novices.

3. Getting the basics right: In my search for mentors, I came across English trainers. I knew I was weak in it. So I took the classes. It helped me brush up my basics but there were two days I would specifically look forward to. Fridays and Saturdays. They were reserved for group discussions. The groups were small. Most of us with almost similar level of skill. I started getting comfortable talking with people, expressing ideas, refuting arguments etc. There came a point where I started enjoying it.

4. Grabbing every opportunity: It was during this time that I started participating in almost every event and competition at school. I was getting better with scripts and delivery. With time, my school administration started sending me to compete outside school and one day I won a trophy. I have been felicitated many times since then but that day stands apart. I still remember the feeling of accomplishment and joy. One frame of mind that worked in my favour was that I did not take any of those competitions as an isolated event. I took them as a part of a process. A lifelong process. When I won, I took it as a signal that I was pulling some right strings and when I did not win, I would just be more motivated to emerge stronger. I often feel failures have been my biggest mentors.

5. Lifelong learning: I must admit there were far better speakers than me in school and the places I would compete in. I am in touch with many of them even today thanks to internet. Though most have done well for themselves, almost all of them quit public speaking. I do not know why. May be they did not have a strong enough 'why' to pursue it. I lingered on and it has made all the difference.I never gave up getting better at public speaking after school. Whenever I went, I realised there was a serious dearth of good public speakers everywhere. While I was training to be a veterinarian, I would often observe that how a subject is received depends so much on who is teaching. Good teachers make even difficult subjects look easy and vice versa. I had opportunities of participating in many science conferences during college. Though such conferences are usually boring, I had my own takeaways. Good content and bad speaker was intolerable. Bad content and good speaker would still be tolerable. Good content and good speaker would leave an impact.During get-togethers, my batchmates often reminisce about great teachers. Teachers who could connect. Teachers who could make classes interesting. Teachers who could retain our interest till the end. Teachers who could illuminate and inspire.

6. Training ground: I kept honing my public speaking skills. College gave me the opportunity to participate in inter-university festivals and competitions. I won some national competitions and, with each win, my confidence and resolve just got better. Eventually, I ended up getting admission in the best university for veterinarians in India-National Dairy Research Institute.Though I was in NDRI to specialise in Animal Genetics, I came to realise it had a rich culture of honing any talent any student had. The environment was particularly conducive for me. We organised national and international conferences almost every month. I hosted big events and interacted with scientists, administrators, professors from various parts of the world. This exposure changed me for good.We had to take a technical writing course as part of the curriculum. The professor teaching the course acknowledged my passion for public speaking and offered me to take some classes for her students. When I taught, I realised I come alive teaching about life skills more than anything else. Moreover, I received great feedback from the students. That was the time when I was exposed to public speakers like Robin Sharma, Tony Robbins, Tom Bilyeu, Vishen Lakhiyani and many others who had made a name for themselves internationally.It was during NDRI days that I realised that I was so passionate about public speaking that 'it made my heart sing' and I need to explore avenues where I can use this skill to inform, illuminate and inspire. Eventually, people started recommending my name to colleges and universities across India, I kept working on myself and continue to do that. Thankfully, I have conducted workshops and spoken in some of the top universities and institutions and trained thousands of students.

7. The turning point: 2017 was full of surprises. I was out of NDRI and took up the role of Consultant in Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Government of India. Though the nature of my job was fascinating in a way that I got to work with top politicians and bureaucrats of the country, but I remember the year for something else.One day, I saw an ad on Facebook about a competition of teachers called Teachathon organised by India's largest online educational platform 'Unacademy'. Bollywood actors, bureaucrats, prominent personalities etc were promoting the event. I submitted my entry, a short course on titled 'Mastering Public Speaking'. Few days later, I got a call from the CEO's office. They were elated by my entry and offered to record a series with me. A few weeks later, I was in Bangalore recording with the edtech platform. Some time later, the results of Teachathon were announced and I was in the top three among over a thousand educators from across India. Life came a full circle. In a matter of 13 years, I had changed from a scared boy to a trainer of public speaking who won a national award.As I am typing this blog, I have 'The storyteller's secret' by Carmine Gallo on my desk and I continue to decode various ways to be a great public speaker not just for myself but for all those unknown people I am going to come across over the course of my life.