eye contact

I felt like I was in the waiting room about to get a blood test. Or perhaps like I was climbing the hill of a rollercoaster on my way to plunging over the edge.

Actually I was waiting to be called on during my impromptu speaking class, called on to pick a random question out of a box and speak for a minute. Turns out that I did better than expected and felt fairly comfortable on stage in front of the crowd. I spoke about an activity I enjoy - surfing, about what I would do about the earthquake situation in India/Pakistan - I would go volunteer there, and about what means the most to me.

The consensus seemed to be that I need to improve in a few areas:
-make better eye contact with people. I will try this during regular conversations as well.
-sound a bit more relaxed and not totally serious.
-figure out how much to walk around

My biggest take-away was regarding a key skill related to impromptu speaking. A great impromptu speaker can think of a structure for answering a question very quickly and can also think up a way to start strong and conclude in a memorable way. I need a webcam so I can practice!

In other news, I'm going to the Philippines over winter break!