Do you throw the kids into the air?

Ding dong, Ding dong ... the alarm went off. It was five in the morning on Aug 14th 2009. I hardly had 6 hours of sleep, but unlike usual alarm-snooze saga I woke up and got ready. I rehearsed the speech (The Three Wishes) for couple more times. It was my first speech from storytelling manual and 3rd speech at TGIF Management Club. I reached Coco's Bakery Restaurant few minutes early and did my breathing exercise in the car.

Even before the meeting has began and my heart began pounding faster and faster. First speaker was an experienced Toastmaster and began delivering her speech. The beginning of her speech was awesome. Midway through the speech she went blank. It was not that she forgot the speech, but her mind went totally blank. She was speechless for few moments. Once she recovered she told that her brain was injured TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) some years ago when the shower fell on her head. As a result she experiences a kind of epilepsy, where her mind will go blank for few seconds/minutes. Well, she gave an unintentional demonstration of the effects of TBI. As an advice, she mentioned that it is dangerous to throw the kids high in the air and catch them. Later, when I was chatting with my friends about this incident, one of my friend said that it is also dangerous to shake the kids forcefully. Well, that's a learning for me. I used to throw my daughter up in the air and catch her, because she loves it. From now on I would refrain from doing that with any kids.

Okay, back to Toastmasters meeting. She recovered from the disruption and concluded the speech well. Next, it was my turn. I was completely moved by this incident and my heart started beating even faster. Initially I planned to try unique voice for the characters in the story, but decided to keep it simple this time. In my opinion, I delivered it decently. Third speaker was a DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster). He spoke about the underlying issues with 401 (k) plan.

Finally, the meeting hit the "awards" section of the Agenda. Voila! I was awarded as the Best speaker for the day. I was thrilled, but the corner of my heart felt heavy for the first speaker. Had her speech was smooth, I would have been more joyful. But, I learned a nice lesson "Don't throw the kids into the air."