Public Speaking

Hello Gardeners!

About a week ago, we released our sixth episode of Season 2 of #HelloGardeners! The gardeners got to participate in the sweetest episode yet! If you haven't already watched it, head over to our YouTube page to catch up. In this episode we received a weed from Gardener Max in Connecticut who said,

Public speaking can be nerve-wracking for gardeners of all ages and can cause weeds of anxiety and fear to pop up. We start to think of the what ifs - "what if everybody laughs at me?", "what if I can't remember my lines?" - and our confidence plummets and we prepare ourselves for failure. What successful public speaking really comes down to is practice and confidence.

Put in the time to practice - like #GardenerAnna suggested, practice in front of your stuffed animals and your family members. Set small goals for yourself - for example, if you are trying to remember lines for a play, start early and set goals to memorize 1 page per day. If it's more like a presentation, ask your teacher for some extra help, they will appreciate that you are taking initiative to practice and improve.

With Hello Gardeners, classroom presentations, and book talks, Shanna, Anna, and Aidan have all needed to practice public speaking and have gotten more comfortable speaking in front of large groups! #PracticeMakesProgress

Although it may sound a little silly, take a minute to remind yourself of the realities of the situation. It's usually minutes before it's your turn to speak when the fear and nerves catch up with us. Take 3 deep breaths - in through the nose, out through the mouth, and remind yourself that there is no immediate threat to your well being. You are just a person, standing in a classroom, talking about a book or your science project. Put your situation in perspective. Often times when you say out loud what is really happening, you realize how small the act really is.

We just saw this adorable video from Sesame Street featuring Common and Colbie Caillat reminding us to belly breathe in times of anger, fear, and sadness! We love it!!

And finally, like author, #ShannaTruffini says, see if you can redirect the energy that is fueling your fear into fueling excitement! We've talked a little about this in previous posts, but this is a great way to start building confidence around public speaking!

So Gardener Max, I hope that we have helped you #PullYourWeed and thank you for being so brave in sharing it with us!

If you have a weed that you are struggling to pull alone, you can always reach out to us @youareagardener or at flowers@youareagardener.com. See you next time, gardeners!