When I was an adolescent, I could not make any friends due to obesity and feared in engaging conversations with strangers. People either shunned me for my appearance or gave up trying to communicate with me. As I progressed on to secondary school, health-consciousness kicked in and I underwent intensive diet cum exercise regimes. An improved outlook managed to confer me with larger and more social circles. However, the early problem of conversing with strangers still posed some uneasiness to me as I continued to flinch while communicating with people. This obstacle persisted till my Junior College period, when an incident gave me a wake-up call pertaining to my inability to communicate with others.
Being the pioneer batch of Junior College students to embark on the Project Work programme, the main emphasis was on the PowerPoint and oral presentation. After months of preparation, the finale had finally arrived. In a team of five, after my peers finished their presentation, I presented the conclusion of the project. However, due to my anxiety, my body was as stiff as a rod and my speech was periodically stumped. The atmosphere was tense and at that point of time, I knew that I had implicated my team. The expressions on the examiners’ faces displayed their dissatisfaction and there was no applause from anyone after my sloppy performance.
Ever since then, communication became an essential tool for me to express my ideas and feelings. Through the hard way, I learnt that body language plays an important part in conveying my message or emotions. My message to my targeted audience is now clearer and they can grasp the gist of my intention. Moreover, the art of communication bestowed me the confidence of others and a fair maiden’s heart.
