Spirit Magazine - October 2013 - (Page 78)

We Buy Used Cell Phones & pay up to 300 for each phone! Some phones have no value. See current purchase price list for individual model prices at www.pacebutler.com Here’s how to do it! We issue your check within 2 days! WE DONATE AN EDUCATIONAL BOOK! for EVERY cell phone sold to PaceButler since 1987 5915 NW 23rd St. Oklahoma City, OK 73127 had never come to a meeting before. Of course, most of them were there because they were afraid to speak up in the first place, so the silent chewing went on for a while. Eventually, the more experienced Toastmasters piped up. “Forgetting the words.” “My voice shaking.” “People judging me.” Then others started chiming in. “My heart pounding.” “Boring people.” “Sweating.” “Yes,” Elaine said. “Ever notice that when you’re nervous, you get a dry mouth and sweaty palms? Why couldn’t it be the opposite, dry palms and a lubricated mouth?” Everyone laughed. “All these are valid feelings when you come up here.” Over the next months, I became a regular at the club near me. At one meeting, a youthful-looking woman named Rosa was presented with what in Toastmasters parlance is called a Table Topic. In Table Topics, the host of a Toastmasters gathering asks the kind of question that might come up at a dinner party or around the office water cooler, and then participants riff on it for a minute or two apiece. As topics go, the one given to Rosa—“You have $80 to spend in Chicago. How would you spend it?”—was pretty tricky. To answer it, you’d have to do math (gah!) and draw on any knowledge you have of a city you may or may not have visited. Rosa was tentative. “Um, I’d call my friend on the phone,” she said softly. “I would have to hitchhike in I took my stance and let the nerves go. The first line went well. I think the next sentence or two were also fine. Then ... The crux of her presentation came next: “The No. 1 antidote to fear is experience. Say it with me! The No. 1 antidote to fear is experience.” Which means not hiding under the radar until called upon but volunteering to speak in a variety of settings again and again. Practicing, rehearsing, getting up, and doing until the nervous feelings become familiar and the belief in your ability to get through them is strengthened. Toastmasters members shared their techniques for rehearsing without pressure—one did it in front of her puppy, who would love her no matter what. Patient or indifferent ears seem to work best. Another person said she rehearsed in front of her 23-year-old niece. “I can tell how I’m doing by the number of times she checks her text messages,” she said. Chicago, because I only have $80,” she said, thinking out loud. A pause. Then more confidently: “I would enjoy the architecture in Chicago … ” Her voice trailed off. “I would spend about $30 on lunch.” Everyone laughed, wondering how much this little woman could possibly eat. Rosa had come to Toastmasters because, she told me, “I’m painfully shy.” I had been surprised to hear that. Rosa is a pretty brunette who often wears her hair pulled back. Her thin, dark eyebrows arch over dark-rimmed glasses, giving her a serious demeanor. You could imagine her starring in a romantic comedy where the heroine doesn’t realize how beautiful she is until she lets down her hair and is transformed into Selena Gomez. She looks like someone who could assume the http://www.pacebutler.com http://www.pacebutler.com http://www.pacebutler.com http://www.pacebutler.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Spirit Magazine - October 2013

Spirit Magazine - October 2013
Contents
Gary’s Greeting
Star of the Month
Freedom Story
From the Editor
Your Words
Your Pictures
Media Center
Eat Drink Sleep
The Numbers
Business
Be Here Now
Don’t Just Stand There
Your Adventure In San Jua
Promotional Series: Florida: Full of Surprises
Your Adventure In San Juan
Promotional Series: Focus on Women’s Health
Promotional Series: Focus on Franchises
Calendar
Fun!
Spotlight
Community Outreach
Products & Services
Flight Service
Terminal Maps
Information
Rapid Rewards and A+ Rewards Partners
Route Map
The “If” List

Spirit Magazine - October 2013