The First Time I Held A Mic

A few years back my best friend and her sister started a new business of customized gifts. Being in a small city they were the only one of this kind of business. For every business, the initial phase is most difficult and it was the same with their business. I was the one supporting them in every way possible (even though I was of no use to their craft, I decided to be with them anyway). On one such day, they got an order from a very small school having 20-25 students (as it was their first academic year) to create dresses for their students. The occasion was Republic day and all they wanted was something that their student can wear and perform a little fancy dress kind of show. We all went crazy as we only had a few days and it was not what they usually do. I again with my not-so-creative self started helping them in every way possible. Finally, we were ready with our props to go to the school. Her father helped us to reach there with everything we have prepared (actually, they have prepared). As we reached there and started helping the teachers get students to fit in the props we created, the principal of that school (the most humble person present there that morning) came to us to see whatever we brought with us and was quite happy with the work. As we were having the conversation with him he requested us for something all three of us got scared of. He requested us to be the anchor of the little fancy dress show they were going to have in a while and tell the parents sitting in the audience about the props we have created. So, the idea was as the student will enter we needed to introduce him/her to the audience and tell them a little about what they were presenting and how it is important to our country. All three of us were looking at each other thinking about what to answer as we all have glossophobia to some extent. I don’t know about the other two but I was scared to another level when it came to public speaking. My introverted self used to cry even with the thought of holding a mic. We all stood there with the longest pause of speech possible as we did not want to say no to the most humble school principal we have ever met. Breaking that long pause I spoke up “ We aren’t prepared for it” and both my friend and her sister nodded. To which he said, “ No issue, We just want one line for each student participation. All the other teachers are busy handling their jobs and it is a sudden idea. I would highly appreciate it if any of you can do it”. Looking at his excitement and the kids who were almost prepared in the dresses made by us, we couldn’t say no, but a yes was the last thing we wanted to say. But all of a sudden a simple okay fell out of my mouth. Both my friend and her sister were looking at me as if I had topped my university examination with a word. The principal went with a happy face backstage leaving my friends in shock and me in immense nervousness. Having no time I had a last glance at the kids all prepared to go to the stage and tried to remember the characters kids were presenting. There were almost 8-10 different characters. Some were showing the missile power of our country and others were dressed as the armed forces. There was an ATM showing the importance of digital India and the Constitution showing nothing is greater than Indian Law. Looking at the smiles they had on their faces gave me a little courage but not that much to face the stage. 

Finally, I got a call from one of the backstage teachers to go on the stage. I still remember shivering and taking the tiniest steps possible to go on the stage. Another teacher gave me the mic, it felt like a device from alien lands. My biggest nightmare was there in front of me THE AUDIENCE. Though they were not many in quantity, still they were sitting to listen to me. The mic was on and it was time to introduce myself. I once again had a glance at my friend and her sister standing by the side of the entrance of the stage with huge smiles cheering me up. My terror made the most common sentence, “Hello! I am Priyanka Nathani” most difficult to utter. I closed my eyes, took some deep breaths, and reminded myself one thing, “THERE IS NO OPTION LEFT NOW”. Suddenly slight courage was gathered inside me and I started with my first few words “ Hey, I am Priyanka, and today I am going to introduce to you some of the awesome kids of this school showing us the sight of what our India looks like”. I know, no line could have been worse than this but speaking this with my cracked voice increased the courage level inside me. “I don’t sound that bad in the mic,” I told myself. Soon after my first sentence students started entering one by one, I did not know the names of any of them so I introduced them as their characters. As I was speaking, I realized My fear was converting into joy and my shivering was gone. I became more confident and started delivering better sentences. I also started including humor here and there which the audience seemed to enjoy. At the end of the show, I thanked everyone for bearing with me and handed the mic over to another teacher. As soon as I came to my friend she hugged me and her sister praised my work with every word possible. I never felt so confident and happy before. While returning home, we bought poha and went to our favorite place to sit and talk and to celebrate our successful delivery. While talking to them I told them all the feelings I had before, while, and after the show.

I know this was a very basic task done by me which even a 7th-grade student can do, but for me, it was an achievement, not only because I held the mic and spoke in front of a few people but because it gave me that sense of facing the fear to eliminate it. I became a little more confident and started participating in small activities here and there. My introverted self thanked me for doing this. I want to conclude my experience by saying no matter what your fear is, face it at least once. It can be horrifying and stressful to do, but what if you enjoy doing it? What if the fear you were having was just an illusion of fear only because you never got a chance of doing it? No matter what, You will surely have a great experience facing it.

-Priyanka Nathani