Hi all! I know, I've been so bad this week, but I've been thinking about ya'll while I've been running around like a crazy woman.
I had a great time at a local school this week, even though I was petrified before every session. I'm one of those folks who hates to speak in front of people, even though I have no troubles at all talking to large groups (yeah, I know, that's weird). It's that presentation thing that gives me the willies. But once I got past my intro and started answering questions, I was totally fine. I'm getting more used to it now that I've been doing it more, so I hope the butterflies fly off soon. It's certainly not going to stop me, and people say I do fine, though they could be lying to make me feel better. Hmmm.
Anyway...
I promise to be back to a regular schedule next week. Have a great weekend!
This is going to sound stupid (and conceited!), but I sometimes worry about how I'll handle giving talks if I ever 'make it'. I'm a *very* bad public speaker, and I can imagine stumbling over my words for half an hour while my ever-dwindling audience shifts its collective weight uncomfortable and wishes it was somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteThen I remember that I likely have years (decades? more?!) until I have to deal with that one, so it's not very important just yet :P
It's not stupid at all, I worried about that too. An awful lot of writers feel the same way. Remember that you don't have to speak if you don't want to. You can find other marketing angles that work better for you. And if you do speak, you can look for venues that are easier for you, just like I do. Everyone approaches it differently, and like the writing itself, you find what works for you :)
ReplyDeleteThank god(s) we're hardwired to replace old memories with new ones, otherwise I would never have found myself.
ReplyDeleteHigh school was my Flatland,
university my Spaceland.
I imagine public speaking becomes old hat after a while.
Thanks for the post. Can you ever do a post on what works well for a school visit at the middle school level? I'm petrified too, even though I'm an attorney who's had to get used to talking in Court. Thanks for your great blog.
ReplyDeleteSure! It'll be up tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to do school visits, but my stuff is SO not at the YA level. Oh well. I'm not really a fan of public speaking either, but like you said, once you get going, it's kind of fun. I definitely enjoy the one-on-one stuff more, though.
ReplyDeleteAnd in response to a comment on the other post, YES, J NAMES ARE AWESOME. I use them often.