Blabber On

Had my marketing case presentation today. For some reason, I suppose because of the long hiatus since my last public presentation, I was feeling exceedingly anxious. The classic case of butterflies in my stomach, swelling of tongue and quickening of heartbeat. Yes, even though I have done many presentations and usually seem to have a calm facade, I'm actually this quaking ball of nerves on the inside.

Anyway, today's presentation was rather rushed and I only got to view the final slides like during class. So much for some prep work...

When it was my turn to present, my head went blank. I knew I was standing in front of my professor, I knew I was supposed to sound intellectual and like I knew what I was saying, but all I could remember thinking about was "Shit, what the fuck am I saying?" It was a completely surreal, out-of-the-body experience. It was like seeing myself from a 3rd-person's perspective and shaking my head in mock despair.

And then the strangest recollection popped into my head: there was one episode of America's Next Top Model where the models were coached to do interviews. The coach then told them that when an interviewer does not know what to ask, just keep talking and eventually it will come to you. I realize that's usually my style too - blabber enough, and with a strong smile, you might just convince your classmates and prof that you're making sense.

Keeping blabbering, that's my new motive in life.