Just chatting

I hate doing presentations. Can’t abide the things. Do I have to do them ever? Oh, yes. At least one or two a month. Do I get better? Hell, no. Actually, that’s not entirely true. When I allow myself to remember that I hate them and can’t do them, I actually relax a fair bit. It’s one of those, “I’m rubbish – well that’s cool” kind of times. And in those moments I turn out being really kind of good. Odd but true. I forget there are people watching that may or may not be judging me, that my boss may take a view of me, that my work may come across as shoddy. You see, while I hate doing the damn things, I absolutely love, love, love being centre of attention. I’m an exhibitionist. Everyone says I am. The life and soul of the party. An extrovert. And yet when it comes to doing pithy old presentations, I forget myself, turn into a blithering, throat-straggled wreck. My very nature is not to take myself too seriously, and here I am taking myself way too seriously. I guess anyone that gets into my kind of state is forgetting themselves a bit, forgetting what they are all about. Because all it really is is chatting about stuff, which we all do every day all the time. And are you yourself or is the presentation really, really that important? Maybe the answer is “yes”, but for me most of the time it’s just my ego talking - way too much and way too loudly. So for my next presentation I will make that extra effort to remember the real me again and tell my ego to take a running jump. Easier said than done, I know, but it’s worth a shot. Now, why didn’t I write this piece this morning before my presentation?!!