Akram Youth Fear | June 2016 | Akram Youth | Page 21

In the theatre, on the stage, it was dark. I
peeped in to the auditorium through the
holes of the curtain. The auditorium was
dark and empty. By and by it lighted up, and
the audience began to arrive.
I got a number of my loyal friends, who were
to spread themselves out in the audience,
armed with big clubs. Every time I said
anything they could possibly guess I
intended to be funny, they were to pound
those clubs on the floor. On top of this, a
kind lady, the wife of the governor, and a
good friend, was supposed to be seated in a
box up above. She was to watch me intently,
and whenever I glanced toward her she was
going to deliver a gubernatorial laugh that
would lead the whole audience into
applause.
At last I began. I had the manuscript tucked
under a United States flag in front of me
where I could get it, in case of need. But I
managed to get started without it. I walked
up and down. I was young in those days and
needed the exercise--and talked and talked.
Right in the middle of the
speech I had placed a gem. I had
put in a moving, pathetic part
which was to get at the hearts
and souls of my hearers. When I
delivered it they did just what I
hoped and expected. They sat
silent and in awe. I had touched
them. Then I happened to
glance up at the box where the
Governor's wife was--you know
what happened.

life, whenever you come face to face with
FEAR, you are always left with 2
alternatives… FIGHT (Face your Fear) OR
FLIGHT (Run away).

How to Fight your Fears?
Sometimes debilitating fear of
public speaking, technically called
“glossophobia”, affects a large portion
of the population. It is known in medical
communities as a type of social anxiety,
similar to “stage fright”. When you get up
to the podium, notes shaking in hand,
feet nervously fidgeting, it seems like all
the information you know well and
rehearsed, delivering has just gone
whirling away with your confidence. At
that moment, staring at your anticipating
audience, all you really want to do is flee.
However, the right thing to do is to Fight
your FEAR. You have to overcome it
someday, Why not now?

Well, after the first agonizing
five minutes, my stage fright left
me, never to return. That was
the moment, it struck me… In
Akram Youth | 21