Being a public speaker:

One of my passions is public speaking which I got involved in quite by accident many years back. In the period since I took it up, I have had the opportunity to be the Master of Ceremonies (MC) at various functions both at family level, in my workplace as well as in a classroom environment. I have made power point presentations in a training and lecture room environment to hordes of people and taken questions to respond to many times as part of public speaking, something not for the feint hearted.

My most memorable occasion was being the MC in a fund raising walk function graced by a former Vice President of Kenya, but I have also been an MC at corporate functions involving captains of industry, at CSR events and at annual staff parties and customer cocktails. I have been a guest of honor at various bank functions including churches; school sports days and so on many of which required me to make a speech as a bank representative. It is something I love doing and while not exactly easy it is something that I have grown to be quite good at and which I enjoy immensely.

Public speaking is about reading the mood of the crowd, acknowledging the solemnity or light heartedness of the occasion and also veering off from the agreed script if necessary to inject some humor or to refocus the crowd towards the goings on or the purpose of the function. It takes patience and diplomacy and the ability to take decisions on the fly and sometimes to say ‘to hell with the consequences’.

It was not always easy because upto today, the sense of fear and dread that you shall make a mess of it always precedes any function. Butterflies fritter in your stomach, you break out into a cold sweat and fear that the equipment may malfunction. However once you commence the function, all jitters go away and I am in my element confident and ready to face anything thrown at me.

It is therefore no longer a surprise to me that some of those who are supremely confident when talking to the family, friends or peers fall apart when they are faced with a situation where they have to address a crowd because it takes tenacity, patience and a cool head. It also takes some practice particularly for training sessions and when making power point presentations to a crowd of people because you want the content to flow and for you to be within the agreed timelines that have been set for you.

So next time you have a function and are looking for an MC – look no further!!