{"id":418,"date":"2012-05-10T14:32:06","date_gmt":"2012-05-10T18:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.honeyishrunkthegrief.com\/blog\/?p=418"},"modified":"2012-10-12T16:23:34","modified_gmt":"2012-10-12T20:23:34","slug":"speech-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honeyishrunkthegrief.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/10\/speech-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Speech! Speech!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I just returned from the Volunteer Breakfast at my son\u2019s elementary school.\u00a0 The Volunteer Breakfast is a special “Thank You” event held for parents and other community members who have volunteered at the school throughout the year.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been to these breakfast\u2019s before, and they\u2019re always very nice, but this one was the best yet!<\/em>\u2026and I\u2019m excited to share a story about why this year\u2019s breakfast was extra special!<\/p>\n

While we were all eating, the school\u2019s principal made some informative announcements about important things going on at our school and within our district.\u00a0 She also extended a big and heartfelt thank you to all the parents and community members who have donated their time throughout the year.\u00a0 As a token of her appreciation, she purchased a bunch of colorful spring plants that were placed on the tables throughout the room, and then had a raffle and drew names until all the plants available were given away to winning volunteers to take home.<\/p>\n

Well guess what?!\u00a0 She drew my name and I won a plant! \u00a0<\/em>Sweet!<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"My new plant! Isn’t she a beaut! Please say a prayer for her. My thumbs are anything but green, so she likely won’t make it through the week!<\/strong><\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Winning the plant felt pretty good, but things soon got even better!. . .<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think when the principal pulled my name out of the basket for the plant drawing, it reminded her of my new book (which she had recently read when it was first released last month) because she then proceeded to tell everyone in the room some really kind things about it! \u00a0What a wonderful and unexpected surprise!<\/em> \u00a0But wait, there\u2019s more!!\u00a0 She then hands the mic to me and asks if I could give a 30 second speech about the book!!\u00a0 YiKes, I was so unprepared for this, but So grateful for the opportunity!\u00a0 I tried to keep it short and sweet, and gave a quick talk explaining what my book was about, and where it could be found (www.HoneyIShrunkTheGrief.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Pretty great morning huh?! \u00a0Although I should also add that my mind has been racing ever since I gave my “speech”. \u00a0I don\u2019t feel like I crashed and burned, but I also feel like I could have done a much better job.\u00a0 Did you ever leave a voicemail on someone\u2019s phone and wish you could get a \u201cdo-over\u201d?\u00a0 That\u2019s exactly how I feel. \u00a0I wanted my moment in the sun to be just right,<\/em> but I\u2019m afraid it was far from it.\u00a0 But I also realize that I did the best I could, and what else can I do, right?\u00a0 Also, when I returned the mic to her, she continued on a bit more with her positive review of my book\u2026so I think her additional final comments very much helped to express some of what was probably lacking in my description (she\u2019s The Best!).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s crazy, I spend five years of my life writing a book that I feel so passionate about, and yet I have difficulty summarizing it,\u00a0clearly, <\/em>in\u00a030 seconds. \u00a0I wish I would have done better. \u00a0But of course I can’t go back and do it again…but, I can learn from this experience, and work to make any future speeches better. \u00a0Maybe it\u2019s time for me to head to one of those Toastmasters groups that teaches people how to be better public speakers? \u00a0I’m sure this would be well worth my time…as there so many things in life where good communication skills are extremely valuable.<\/p>\n

an invitation to you\u2026
\n<\/span><\/em>Do you have a memorable, big or small, public speech that you gave?\u00a0 How did it go?\u00a0 How did it make you feel?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Have you had any experience with Toastmasters or any other kind of speech instruction that helped you to be a better public speaker? \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you have any public speaking tips to offer?…things that help you to comfortably, confidently, and clearly communicate your message?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I just started reading Shania Twain\u2019s autobiography and she talks about performing as a child, and how she would look above people\u2019s heads when she got on stage.\u00a0 Does that help?\u2026help you to relax and help the thoughts flow more freely?\u00a0 And I remember one of the old Brady Bunch episodes where one of the kids was taking their drivers test and was told to picture the instructor in their underwear to make the situation lighter, more comical.\u00a0 Does that help?!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What helps???\u00a0 Help!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(responses can be left below. \u00a0Thanks!!<\/em>)<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span>
\n<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

~ \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 ~
\nNow on Facebook!\u00a0http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HoneyIShrunkTheGrief
\n<\/a>Now on Twitter!\u00a0https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/EricVaiksnoras
\n<\/a>Check out my book!\u00a0http:\/\/www.honeyishrunkthegrief.com\/book\/
\n<\/a>Feeling grateful? or feeling low?\u00a0Sign the Thank You Card!<\/a><\/p>\n

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I just returned from the Volunteer Breakfast at my son\u2019s elementary school.\u00a0 The Volunteer Breakfast is a special “Thank You” event held for parents and other community members who have volunteered at the school throughout the year.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[45,85,13,54,14,44,21,23,22,24,84,82,81,83,12,20,11,57,25],"class_list":["post-418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-love-will-find-a-way","tag-a-young-widower-discovers-love-will-find-a-way","tag-eric-vaiksnoras","tag-grief","tag-griever","tag-grieving","tag-honey-i-shrunk-the-grief","tag-hope","tag-laugh","tag-live","tag-love","tag-public-speaking-tips","tag-speech","tag-speeches","tag-toastmasters","tag-widow","tag-widowed","tag-widower","tag-www-honeyishrunkthegrief-com","tag-young-widower"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honeyishrunkthegrief.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honeyishrunkthegrief.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honeyishrunkthegrief.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honeyishrunkthegrief.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honeyishrunkthegrief.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418"}],"version-history":[{"count":67,"href":"https:\/\/www.honeyishrunkthegrief.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1434,"href":"https:\/\/www.honeyishrunkthegrief.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418\/revisions\/1434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honeyishrunkthegrief.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honeyishrunkthegrief.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honeyishrunkthegrief.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}