WALK LIKE A CENTIPEDE

Pic.: Pushpa Mistry Kamath

I love giving these three mantras of Public Speaking to whoever comes to me for that ghyan – little kids, young adults, adults or silver-haired. “Hey, here are the three mantras,” I tell them at the very outset:

You shall speak LOUDLY...

You shall speak CLEARLY...

You shall speak from your HEART!

Amen.

Then, I tease them, “Your Public Speaking course – the Rocket Science... The Nuclear Physics - is over. You can go home, now!”

Actually, they all can go home, now!

Just think of it! If you speak loudly, clearly and from your heart, won’t it be sufficient? Won’t it help you carry across your message to your audience effectively?

Too much is made out of it. Fear will not go away till we all die... But, somehow, we have been made to believe it will. So, like a dog trying to catch its own tail, we all run in circles, desperately, to finish our fear off, once and for all!

If I tell them, “Honey, it is okay to be afraid... Fear is your best friend... He motivates you, keeps you alert, agile and geared-up for action, always... He is the only companion who will accompany you till your grave... So, chill... befriend fear... Don’t try to banish him. If you do, he will only frustrate you.”... Yes, if I tell them like this, often, they find it hard to buy my argument. “How can we speak when there is fear?” they wonder.

“Just speak,” I tell them, “Don’t think.”

And, I tell them the story of the Frog and the Centipede...

The Frog, who walked on his four legs, was a philosopher. He, always, did a lot of thinking, analyzing, brooding and worrying. On the other hand, the Centipede, who walked on his hundred legs, was, always, the cool guy. He carried himself so peacefully and gently, that on seeing him, the Frog started thinking and worrying. “Look at this guy, Centipede,” he thought aloud, “With my four legs, I have a helluva time to carry myself, “How does this fellow manage to walk so peacefully and so gracefully?”

So, the Frog, the philosopher, went to the Centipede and asked, “My friend, tell me, you have hundred legs. How do you manage to walk? Can you tell me which leg you put forward first, which next and which after that? You know what, I have only four legs, and I have difficulty figuring it out!”

For the first time, in his life, someone had made the Centipede aware that he possessed hundred legs and, while walking, one of them he had to put forward first, then one more, then one more and so on... So, for the first time, he started thinking about it, and, he could not try to figure it out. “Look Mr. Frog, I have been walking for my entire life with out thinking about which leg I needed to place first and which next. Now, that you have made me think about it... and, the harder I think, the more confused and worried I become. Give me some time to think more; I will get back to you.”

After a week, when the Frog met the Centipede, the hundred-legged creature was a wreck! “Now listen, you thinker, ever since you asked me that question, I have never eaten a morsel... not slept a wink. My life had been so smooth... I walked like a king, so peacefully and gracefully... Now, I find it difficult to lift even my one leg! For God’s sake, leave me alone... and, never ever show your face to me, again... You understand?” 

If you have a story,

and you are dying to tell it...

If you have a cause,

and you are willing to fight for it...

nobody needs to teach you how to speak well in public.

You will sit down for hours

to prepare it well...

You will stand there for hours

to  practice it well...

and, you will go up ‘there’

to tell it well...

fight your battle well.

That’s all there to it -

to the art and science of Public Speaking..

Prepare it... Practice it... Deliver it!

Many years ago, I had written this in my book – ‘Vaachas Chame’ – Grant me the power of Expression. So, I send them home with it. One last time, I remind them:  

“Walk like a Centipede... Don’t worry about which leg, when and how!”

GERALD D’CUNHA