Big steps

March 14th, 2024

Today I spoke (well, asked a question and then followed up with several comments) in front of about 150 people. It was an unprompted and quite unrehearsed question. I was calm and composed even though the question was difficult for the guests and the management in front of whom we as employees gathered. My question was met with a thorough answer and afterward in the safety of the hallway, with some high fives from my coworkers — but that is another story. The most important thing here was me talking out loud in front of so many people. Several years ago it would be out of the question for me to do such a thing. Today, it came quite naturally to me. I have no problem talking and being the center of attention — but on a much smaller scale, and rarely, since talking and being on it is exhausting and is not my forte. I can be active as a listener and speaker within a group of people, whose size varies with my familiarity with the people in the group. With people I know, that group might have tens of people, with strangers — at most only several. But for speaking out in front of 150 people? That is a huge step for me. I wanted to title this post “Small steps” but there was nothing small about what happened today — about my behavior, my calmness, and the naturalness in all of it. This was big for me. That was a big step for me, on which I can build so much more.