My First Webinar (and some backstory)

Today I got to do something that, when I was a kid, nobody ever would have believed possible - I did my first live webinar (thanks to SimpleK12.com :-).

See, when I was a kid, up until my early teens, I was painfully, brutally shy. I was all elbows and knees, spiky hair and freckles like a raccoon mask around my eyes and there would have been NO WAY that you could have made me even THINK about doing something like this!

Now I teach a public speaking class and have given many pro-D sessions an tech training workshops face-to-face with hundreds of teachers.

So what changed? I remember the day that I changed how I saw myself. I realized that I was being my own worst enemy. I realized that walking around looking at my shoes was like wearing a sign that said "please pick on me!". And I realized that humor makes a pretty good shield sometimes :-). I raised my eyes up and started making eye contact with people. I walked taller. I started using my sense of humor more and over time, my self-confidence grew.

Now I'm absolutely not afraid to try new things. I need to challenge myself to keep honing my skills to become a better teacher, but I had never given a live webinar presentation before and I felt a healthy case of nerves leading up today. I realized how much I use my audiences' body language and posture to gauge my presentation by. With those cues removed, I felt a bit like I was flying blind, but it felt SO good to do it that now I'd gladly do it again!

So try something new. Really, what other life are you waiting for? You've got a chance? Suck it up and give it a go!

- Posted from my iPad