 |
| Image courtesy of Microsoft |
Every now and then, we have to do something at work or at school that
makes us feel a little uncomfortable. For many of us, that task has something
to do with public speaking or doing a presentation in front of a bunch of people.
This happened to me today at my business-networking luncheon. To my surprise, I
found myself more excited than nervous about getting up there and talking to
the other members of the Network Referral
Group of Santa Clarita about one of my favorite things to do: handwriting analysis.
Last week, I volunteered to do presentation when another member
discovered he couldn’t attend the meeting. The topic was an easy choice for me,
since I already spent the previous Sunday afternoon doing handwriting analyses
at Happy Pets veterinary
practice. One of my friends and NRG partners is a veterinarian and owner of the
practice; I accepted donations for a slush fund that helps financially strapped clients pay for veterinary
care in exchange for a brief handwriting analysis. I knew this topic would be
interesting and entertaining for the other NRG members to learn about since we
all write (or print) in our professions. Furthermore, most people are curious
about themselves. Handwriting is a great way to tell a lot about someone’s
personality in a short time and with very little effort on the part of the writer
or the handwriting analyst (me).
One of the things I learned and have always remembered from the Public
Speaking class in my hypnotherapy certification was how to stay confident
and relaxed during a presentation. I can still remember how George Kappas, M.A.,
C.Ht., the director of the Hypnosis
Motivation Institute, gave my class that pep talk about this topic. He
encouraged us to look forward to every opportunity to promote our hypnotherapy
practice this way, reminding and reassuring us that we would know a lot more
about this topic (hypnosis) than anyone else in the room. We would be the
experts in the room and should “own” the topic with confidence, he enthused. And
then the final zinger: We already knew so much about this field that there was
no reason for any of us to even need notes
during this kind of presentation, except perhaps the briefest topic guideline.
So when I went to the front of the room this afternoon, I did not really
need to think about which material I would present during the next ten minutes
or so that were allotted to me. I had a few props to help me: a printed handout
for everyone to describe the writing features I examine and a white board to
provide “illustrations” of those characteristics. While I held a copy of the
handout in my hand for quick reference, I only glanced at it once to determine
which material I felt I needed to cover in the remaining minute of my talk. Then,
I invited questions and even did an impromptu mini-analysis of someone’s
writing before the meeting was adjourned.
And George Kappas was right: I didn’t need notes, after all, and I did have a lot of fun doing the
presentation about a topic I know so well. If necessary, I would be happy to
step up again to do another presentation about some aspect of my work as a
hypnotherapist. Indeed, I’m already getting ideas about what I can talk about
next time. I can’t wait!
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist
based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation
Institute in 2005. For more
information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an
appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2016
