I was the Scoutmaster of a local Boy Scout Troop for three years before retiring from that position a year or so ago. One of the duties of the Scoutmaster is to present the “Scoutmaster Minute” — an opportunity to present “words of wisdom” at the close of each Troop meeting, Court of Honor, or any other organized Troop activity like the Family Picnic. For the Scoutmaster Minute, the Senior Patrol Leader — the youth Scout Leader — calls the Troop to attention, then focuses the eyes of all the scouts, and all the parents who just arrived to pick up the scouts, and all the other Adult Leaders, on the Scoutmaster, who is standing alone at the front of the room. The Scoutmaster then says a few words or tells a brief story — something to close the meeting on a positive and inspirational note, and something that at some point every scout will remember for years to come.
Yikes. That’s not too much pressure. 40+ pairs of eyes and ears from scouts, and another 40+ pairs of eyes and ears from parents and other adult leaders, all listening attentively for the next 60 seconds, waiting for you to say something that will inspire them for the rest of their lives.
Now mind you, I had done a certain amount of public speaking before becoming a Scoutmaster. I had done a few presentations on stage at vendor conferences and at user groups, but compared to this, those were easy. For those presentations I was merely up in front of 100 or so other software developers, talking about technical topics on which at least in theory I was an expert. Having 60 seconds to inspire 40 15-year-old boys — that’s a whole different matter.
I vividly remember my first Scoutmaster Minute. I had done everything possible to prepare for it: I had found an excellent story — something that would grab and hold the attention of a 15-year-old boy and would deliver a message to inspire them but yet not be too preachy. I had tweaked the story to make it personal and meaningful to them, and I had rehearsed it over and over until I could tell the story naturally instead of reading it from my notes. I was ready. And yet at 8:59 PM, when the time came and all the eyes turned to stare at me, I suddenly became practically petrified.
But I took a deep breath, and I started speaking. Almost immediately I forgot everything I had rehearsed and I fell back to just reading from my notes. My voice was shaking the entire time — it was obvious how nervous I was. And yet, I got through it, and at the end all the boys applauded politely, although I had the feeling it was as much out of sympathy as it was for the wonderful story.
This pattern repeated every week: prepare, rehearse, present.
But a funny thing happened along my journey as a Scoutmaster: with each passing week the Scoutmaster Minute got easier, until the day came when I could deliver the story completely by heart, completely at ease, ad-libbing to respond to the crowd or to highlight or praise a specific scout or action, to the point that I actually looked forward to the opportunity to present a new Scoutmaster Minute each week, to be able to provide a lesson that perhaps each week even one boy could carry with himself for the rest of his life. The Scoutmaster Minute was no longer a terrifying moment for me. It had become almost exhilarating, giving me a chance to deliver a brief “teachable moment” every week.
One great thing about the Scouting program is that it helps the youth grow and develop in many positive ways, but it never occurred to me that growth might also extend to the adults who are involved. Among other great ways I’ve grown as a result of volunteering in Scouting, I’ve realized that Scouting had indeed destroyed my fear of public speaking. Public speaking comes easy now, regardless of the context or subject or audience.
And like all my Scoutmaster Minutes, there is a moral to this story.
The moral of the story is this: anything can be mastered, and any fear can be overcome, by simply doing it over and over again. One day you will realize that the fear is gone, and from then on, that skill is yours to own forever.
Public speaking is an incredibly valuable skill in all aspects of life, but most people fear speaking in public more than they fear even death. My advice to you all is to simply get out there and take every opportunity you can to practice your public speaking. You won’t die, you will get better, and if you practice it enough, it will become easy. And along the way, it will give you a chance to pass your knowledge and wisdom on to many others around you.
