Glossophobia: Fear of Public Speaking

Can you believe it? According to studies, some people would much rather die than make a speech in front of a crowd!


But it is true. I, too, fall victim to glossophobia, the fear of public speaking. The prospect of having to stand up in front of a crowd leaves my stomach tied up in knots. Waves of nausea churn through my body, my limbs fall lifeless, as if my skeleton had just been ripped from my body. As my whole body rebels against my helpless brain, my head feels like top, quickly spinning out of control.


Just this past weekend, I participated in the 6th Annual Toronto Korean Speech Contest, hosted by University of Toronto. It is rather overwhelming but impressive to see so many competitors from different universities gather, to give a speech in a language they have just started to learn. Some were speaking with much fluidity, while others were shy or anxious. Given my fear, obviously I fall closer to the latter group. Even though I didn't win anything, I am still proud that I pushed myself to face my fear.


For those of you interested, the list of top 10 fears in the world are as follows:

1. Fear of public speaking (Glossophobia)
2. Fear of death (Necrophobia)
3. Fear of spiders (Arachnophobia)
4. Fear of darkness (Achluophobia, Scotophobia or Myctophobia)
5. Fear of heights (Acrophobia)
6. Fear of people or social situations (Sociophobia)
7. Fear of flying (Aerophobia)
8. Fear of open spaces (Agoraphobia
9. Fear of thunder and lightning (Brontophobia)
10. Fear of confined spaces (Claustrophobia)

(Thanks to: http://www.speech-topics-help.com/fear-of-public-speaking-statistics.html )

Can you identify yourself with any of these? 

The Green Invasion

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY, EVERYONE! 
Festivities line the streets wherever you go. You will not spend a moment this weekend where you cannot see the color green. Of course, this doesn't just have to do with the fact that it was St. Paddy's day but also, Spring is coming! Taking walks around the University campus this weekend was definitely the highlight of the week. I was able to shed my awkwardly heavy jacket, clunky boots, winter armor and instead, opt for something lighter, like shorts, sunglasses and flip flops.

Hope everyone is outside enjoying the beautiful weather today! Go take a walk if you have the time, just drop everything and go. You will not regret it! Take a break and go check out the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Montreal on St. Catherine's today.

Reflections of DMLS 2012

Today marks the end of the two-day case competition open to first year management students at McGill! The competition, Desautels Management Leadership Seminar (DMLS), offered 200 freshmen students the opportunity to network, meet great people, listen to the inspirational speeches delivered by successful individuals in their respective industries, ask questions and last but not least, become exposed to a "case crack". 

The speeches from the guest speakers were unlike anything I have ever seen; I feel like I walk away from each of them feeling more knowledgeable than I had been when I walked in forty minutes ago. I had the honor of listening to representatives from Stikeman Elliot, J.P. Morgan, Deloitte and ERP Guru talk about their respective paths to success. Of course, it isn't all glory, rainbows and sunshine as it may seem from the surface. I learned that this journey to finding your dream job is all about perseverance. These speakers discussed the downfalls and challenges they faced along the way, about how they were beaten, pushed aside by obstacles in life but how they were able to stand back up and fight for what they want. You have four very successful people but each of them have very different stories to share with us. 

After this weekend, networking almost feels like second nature to me. This is not bad!... considering how, prior to this experience, I had next to no experience in this aspect of business. Although I know this is not realistic, I wish we could have chatted while sitting down. I am sure most girls in the situation would agree with me; after standing and walking in high heels for a day, all you want to do is rest your incredibly sore and hurting feet! 

Day 2 was all about case cracks. This is the part of the competition where you are given 2 hours, team mates, a  coach... and a case to prepare and crack in front of a panel of judges. As someone who is frightened by the thought of public speaking, this was one of those moments where I wish the floor would open up and just swallow me. Being in the situation had my adrenaline flowing at double time but following the presentation, it was instant relief that I had finished! (Even though I did crap)

All in all, this experience was an excellent eye-opener for me. The seminar made me realize how little I know about the world we live in and similarly, how much more I have to explore to become even the least bit more aware. We all have to start somewhere though, right? 

A Tribute to Taekwondo

Taekwondo is a beautiful martial art that has had a long history and involves a lot of flexibility, coordination, energy... and grace. Of course, it all depends on how you see it. There is that strong sense of satisfaction, accomplishment and pride you get when you knock someone out. and then there is that sense of wounded pride when you are the one who gets knocked out. Oh, did I mention that the former is sometimes accompanied by a concussion, or worse, a broken limb?

Ouch. That's gonna leave a mark.

The sport offers countless dimensions in which you can compete. To name a few, there are Kyorugi (Sparring), Poomse (Patterns or commonly referred to as forms) and demonstrations. All of them are impressive in their own ways, although personally I find the demonstrations the most appealing.

 

Make sure to check out this short clip from YouTube: Korean National Taekwondo Demo

I wouldn't recommend watching the whole thing as it does start off a little slow. In my opinion, the most exciting part is between 2:06 and 3:00.

The Many Times I Wish Time Would SLLLOOOOWWWWW DOWN.

...And there it goes, ladies and gents, the week in February that university students are most fond of: Reading Week. Starting tomorrow, school will (unfortunately) be back in full swing and we will once again, be over-worked like dogs. I could have sworn someone hit the fast forward button because time just sped by.

That is not to say this past week hasn't been relaxing and/or amazing. Yes, reading week, as suggested by the name is meant to serve as a week where students can READ and ultimately catch up, but really, whoever uses time wisely anymore? The highlight of my reading week was, hands down, being able to hang out with an old high school friend. I would like to thank her for bearing with the dreadful 5 hour flight (this is only one way, can you believe it?!) for coming out to visit. After not having been able to see her in half a year, it really means a lot to me to be able to hang out with her in person!

Similarly, I hope the rest of you had an enjoyable reading week too. Now, stop reading and go enjoy the last night off as a free spirit!

What the Canadian Winter Has to Offer.

I had an action-packed weekend both in the snow and on the ice and I spent it all with a special group of people in my life.

On Saturday February 18, I had a chance to hop on a snowboard for the first time in my life. Although a 7:30am departure on a Saturday morning (not to mention the fact that it was the start to a relaxing reading week) was not what I had hoped for, a beautiful day out on Mountain St. Bruno sure compensated for that. Accompanied by my cheerful room mate and a number of other wonderful friends, we learned the basics of the sport and by the end of the day, we were going down the blue runs without much of  a problem!  My rear end and knees are quite sore even now but I guess all great things come with a price. Next time I go, I am trying the half pipes.

On Sunday February 19, a couple friends and I trekked out to Beaver Lake (Lac aux Castors) to go skating. 

Although it was slightly cooler in terms of temperature, it was also nice to be able to speed around the outdoor playground while catching up with friends in the serenity of the dark night. I may not have been able to get much work done this weekend but sometimes all of us need to take some time off and just enjoy all that the Canadian Winter has to offer.

Bad Case of Drama Addiction...

Have you ever gone through a phase of cultural hyper-absorption (this, by the way, is NOT a professional term), where you just can't get enough of one culture? That's what I am going through right now, except the weird thing is, it is with my own culture.

I recently started watching a Taiwanese drama called "In time with you" or as the 1 billion people out there call it, "我肯能不會愛你". It is a drama about two high school friends who started out as enemies but as time passed, grew fonder and fonder of each other. I don't want to bore you with the details, but feel free to check out the synopsis if you are interested.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Time_with_You
Just a side note but it is extremely frustrating to watch the guy fail time and again because he doesn't have the courage to confess!

Trust me when I say dramas do bad things to you. In my case, it eats up way too much of my time!