So I’ve been doing a lot of cleaning out old papers these last few months. The most recent had me run into an old notebook with stuff written for a public speaking class.

One section had notes regarding the biopic The King’s Speech, about King George VI overcoming his speech impediment to inspire his people during WW2. A well made movie that was surely inspiring for all of us.

Here’s two of the four notes that I had down that still hold weight to me now:

“Can’t get too caught up in the issues that have little to do with your presentation.”

This is partly why I have so many drafts either on standby or deleted. Sometimes I get into a zone where the brain bounces around into writing things that are relative to me, but might be derailing or off-putting to anyone reading the post.

Catching myself in those moments has helped create additional entries, but there’s overall satisfaction in the self-control to stay on point, and try not to rely on too many callbacks.

“Learn to focus. Have confidence in your words, on and off paper.”

As I said, doing that on paper/screen was and can sometimes still be a challenge. For as long as I’ve done it, I often found it easier to communicate clearly.

On occasion, I’ll find myself fighting to have some solid closing to what I’m saying, especially when I know I have an audience’s attention.

The more informed and collected I am about what I’ll say, the bigger the confidence will be. It’s an extra notch towards the pat on the back you deserve to give yourself.

I’ll conclude this on Monday. Thanks for reading 🙂

D.F.