Now, most of you know that I am attracted to the spotlight. You might not realize that I do struggle with stage fright. Generally, I swallow it down and move forward through a combination of confidence, training, and experience. Over time, I have become more and more comfortable in speaking, singing, and even playing the guitar in front of large groups of people, but some level of that fear is still there. And yes, I mean that this fear exists for my day-to-day teaching too; although, it is admittedly worse when presenting in front of people my own age or older. This is especially true when the topic is outside of my comfort zone.
Tomorrow's meeting for my Rome and Athens trip is certainly in the realm beyond what I am used to doing. There are several things that are heightening my anxiety as I plan for it:
1. I really want this to trip to work. I would like for this to be the start of regular large-group excursions to give SoHi students the chance to physically experience the history and cultures of our diverse world. I worry that my inexperience with traveling and this process will somehow taint not only this trip but stop future adventures from taking place.
2. I HATE selling things. There is no getting around the fact that a trip like this is quite an expense, and I don't want to push people into doing something that they are financially unprepared to do (no matter how great of an experience that I think this is going to be), yet this presentation is definitely a "sales pitch." I plan on intentionally skipping some of the sales tactics that are suggested due to my disdain of them, but I worry that in doing so I might be jeopardizing the success of the trip.
3. This is my first time leading a trip like this, and I've already been receiving questions that I really do not know how to answer. I have an experienced travel leader in my chaperone group who has promised to help, and the presentation is designed so that parents can submit questions electronically. Still, I prefer to feel more confident going into a public speaking situation and am concerned that I might be "umming" and uhhing" my way through this.
With all of that said, I'm still REALLY excited about this trip! I think that my excitement for it can get me through tomorrow's presentation.
Tomorrow's meeting for my Rome and Athens trip is certainly in the realm beyond what I am used to doing. There are several things that are heightening my anxiety as I plan for it:
1. I really want this to trip to work. I would like for this to be the start of regular large-group excursions to give SoHi students the chance to physically experience the history and cultures of our diverse world. I worry that my inexperience with traveling and this process will somehow taint not only this trip but stop future adventures from taking place.
2. I HATE selling things. There is no getting around the fact that a trip like this is quite an expense, and I don't want to push people into doing something that they are financially unprepared to do (no matter how great of an experience that I think this is going to be), yet this presentation is definitely a "sales pitch." I plan on intentionally skipping some of the sales tactics that are suggested due to my disdain of them, but I worry that in doing so I might be jeopardizing the success of the trip.
3. This is my first time leading a trip like this, and I've already been receiving questions that I really do not know how to answer. I have an experienced travel leader in my chaperone group who has promised to help, and the presentation is designed so that parents can submit questions electronically. Still, I prefer to feel more confident going into a public speaking situation and am concerned that I might be "umming" and uhhing" my way through this.
With all of that said, I'm still REALLY excited about this trip! I think that my excitement for it can get me through tomorrow's presentation.
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