Next career?

If you look at lists of what people are most afraid of, public speaking is almost always among top 5. It is common to feel uncomfortable and getting very nervous when all lights are on you and you are at the center of attention. The good thing is, facing this fear and doing it anyway, together with learning some basics of how to speak in public, are often enough to overcome at least some of the public speaking fear. And of course, the more speeches and presentations you hold, the more confident you get.

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Over the cause of my working career I have held hundreds of presentations and speeches. Some good, a few brilliant and definitely some boring and bad. However, I enjoy public speaking and find it most of the time rewarding and fun. For me it all starts with: who is the audience? Based on the audience I try to tailor a message to get the desired outcome. It is two completely different things to speak about robotics in front of a high school class or delivering a robotics sales pitch in a customer meeting. It is also important to take every presentation seriously, be well prepared and to have rehearsed several times. I am almost always a bit nervous, and it is not only negative as I feel it makes me more focused.

Inspirational speaker
Last week, I was invited as inspirational speaker at an event in Sweden. I felt honored and privileged to get the chance to talk about the importance of "here and now", joy and appreciation of life! It was also a good opportunity to increase awareness about ovarian cancer and of course to promote my foundation.
I hope to get more such chances and who knows maybe this is my next career!?