After 100 Posts

Hello everyone,

I did not know that my post on CTY was my 100th post until WP informed me. I thought it was serendipitous since CTY made such an imprint on my life and I am looking for my next adventure. I wanted this post (101) to be something celebratory, but I did not know what. So, as a very private person, I have decided to share something personal with you.

I have been going to Toastmasters since May of 2019 (two months). It is a club that helps with public speaking. I discovered that I have stage fright months after my student teaching experience after reading an article that states that many educators (I forget the percent) have stage fright. I only came to Toastmasters because I was my friend’s +1 and she wanted to try Toastmasters again because she did not have time when she was a college student. Now is her chance…and mine.

I have been taking the back seat for almost every meeting, despite knowing that it is a safe space and everyone there is working towards becoming better at public speaking.

Even after coming to the meetings for two months, I still have yet to give my Ice Breaker speech (4-6 minutes long), one of the easiest speeches to give because it is all about introducing myself to members of the club. This is much harder for me since I am such a private person and I keep others at arm’s length.

If you and I happen to need to work together for a while (or contractually work a certain amount of time), if I had the opportunity, I would find out your life story before sharing about myself.

• When I ask you questions, I am genuinely interested in learning about you
• I need to know if I can trust you (what kind of info. I can give that cannot be used against me)
• Only when I find that I can trust you, do I start letting you in and only if you ask

These are aspects that I plan on sharing for my Ice Breaker speech. Wish me luck.

I appreciate all of you for sticking around after I return from my unannounced leaves of absences. I am also grateful for everyone who has read my posts – most recently on Flash Fiction and Photo Prompts, as most of my new followers are from these communities. One of my goals is to write more engaging stories that are worth your time.

Thanks for reading.