Scare, scar and shell.

Psalm 107:1-2

"O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever".

This was the bible verse I was given in Sunday School at age 4. My very first public speaking opportunity and I failed. I got stuck on “ O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good” and stood there till the microphone was taken away from me. That was the very first scare I encountered at public speaking and it did scar me - for quite a long time.

At age 5, I was in Kindergarten 2 at the University Basic School in Cape Coast. During its annual speech and prize giving day, the school organized a drama. I was initially chosen to play the role of a King but I lost it. Why? I couldn’t make my script stick in my mind and as a result I fumbled my words.

I caved in. I went into my shell. Worse off, I kept this to my self. Not even my parents knew the kind of fear I had developed of speaking in front of other people. 

Public speaking was silently a big challenge for me. My Sunday School at the Methodist Church I attended based “promotions” heavily on how active and responsive children were during service and as a result I got stuck in the same class for a couple of years whilst my big sister got promoted. How did I respond? I quit Sunday School. I started going to the adult service with my mum and no matter what was said to me, I refused to go to the children service.

A lot happened in between that time and Secondary school. I was always running away from opportunities to speak publicly. Even though, I was the senior prefect in Junior High School, I always made my assistants lead student gatherings unless I had no option at all.

In my penultimate year in St. Augustine’s College, we started an inter-house debate competition in a bid to improve our chances during the annual inter-school debate competition. Fr. Kelly House was paired with St. Teresa’s House in the very first round of the inter-house competition. For whatever reason, I was hand-picked by the leaders of Fr. Kelly House together with a freshman to represent the house.

To make matters worse, we were to go up against one of the best three debaters of the College at the time. I fretted without anyone knowing. I prepared like my life depended on it. Whilst students slept, I prepared. I worked on my intonation, diction, composure on stage and timing. I needed to slay my demons and to the surprise of many, we ended up victorious.

A couple of months later, I had an opportunity to represent the College yet again. This time, it was a business case challenge where we had to pitch a business idea to a panel of judges. Over 25 competing schools were present in the competition held in the Western Region of Ghana. With over two thousand people in the auditorium, I recall not feeling my legs just before going on stage. Once again, preparation did the magic.

I have had a lot more presentations since I first did in the debate in St. Augustine’s College. The height of this shell-breaking experience for me was a presentation I had to make in South Africa in the CharterQuest CFO Case Study competition in 2017. At the end of the final presentation, I had one of the organizers walk up to me to ask whether I was a debater. You can't imagine the joy I felt in that moment.

These experiences just makes me reflect on the transitioning from a scare I had as a 4 year old which scarred me enough to make me coil and hide in my shell; my glossophobic shell. I prepared and prayed! All my presentations have always been a personal project for me. I work on them with all the seriousness I can find in me and indeed, God rewards my efforts every time!

I came out of this shell not because I complained or sulked at how my first experience left me bruised; but then how I decide to take the bold decision not to shy away from public speaking and how well I always prepare to deliver.

This time and the next, the microphone will never be taken from me.