Making Progress

One of my sorta, kinda, in the back of my head new year's resolutions was to get better at talking to people.  It's not that I'm anti-social.  I like to think of it as socially awkward.  I have no idea what to say in situations - even just everyday small talk - so I ramble, then get tongue tied.  It's not fun.  And don't even get me started on the whole public speaking thing.  It's by far, aside from the dentist, my biggest fear.  I get sweaty, and fidgety and all sorts of tongue tied and I pretty much suck.  

You can see where as this might be a problem for everyday interactions.  So I'm trying to get better.  I try to talk to people a bit more often.  I try to ask questions to keep conversations going - also I'm bad at talking about myself so by asking questions I can keep the conversation going without shining a spotlight on me.  It's one of those little tricks that took forever for me to learn.  I still get nervous when there's lots of people around talking and I have to say something and I still shy away from talking in meetings but I'm getting there.  

However, until today, I never really had the nerve to make progress on the public speaking thing.  But apparently a Sharepoint guru was needed to speak at a meeting and I was informed I was that person. Worst nightmare situation since I found out about it last week. But for a change, I was talking about something I knew lots about.  I know Sharepoint and I was talking to a bunch of people who didn't.  Mind you they were all tech-y computer-y types that can code me into the ground and speak at levels far, far above my head, but they couldn't when it came to Sharepoint.  So I prepared some beautiful job aides (gotta love a good job aide : ) complete with screen shots and logos, and a good outline of what I was going to say.

Then I just did it.  It was only about 10 people and I only spoke for a about 15 minutes and there was no standing up in front of them - thank god for conference tables! But, dare I say it? - it was kind of easy.  It went surprisingly well and I didn't embarrass myself too, too badly.  Now I'm not going to start any speaking tours, any time soon, but at least I know I can tackle a small group if I absolutely must.  

Though, I have to say, I'd still rather not....I'm making progress, but I'm not perfect yet...