Cheerleading

Where I grew up, cheerleading was pretty much a joke. It always consisted of a bunch of overweight girls yelling; there was no tumbling or exciting ESPN type of routines. As a result, I've always thought it was kind of silly...even at the college level, where teams do compete in physically demanding events. But today I found a pretty good outcome of cheerleading.

Public Speaking

Okay, so maybe it's not a universal trait, but in the same course where I was complimented by my teacher for having a good speaking style, I overheard him giving a similar comment to a girl in my class, to which she responded "I'm just used to being in front of people". And she should be, considering that she's a senior cheerleader for a D-1 school. I also thought she presented her material very well...very composed. More than anything else, being out there in front of thousands of people in arenas and stadiums likely desensitized her to giving a mere presentation to 30 classmates.

Anyways, I just thought it was pretty cool that cheerleading actually transfered over skills to business and communication, as it's something I've never considered before.

Speaking Compliments

I've had quite the day and even week so far, with too many assignments and projects to list. Regardless, I had a nice end to the day. I've been working on a presentation for a class concerning the subprime lending crisis; before beginning my research I didn't know much about it, though now I find it quite fascinating (it has many parallels to the Enron scandal). In any case, I didn't feel ready for the presentation.

As it turns out, I was the one in my group that was truly prepared. I was working with two other individuals; one did was nervous as hell but did a good job with his part, while the other was an older student who I feel didn't really practice his presentation nor even present the right material. In fact, we were pretty much out of time before I had the opportunity to speak.

Regardless, based on my introduction slides of the project and my section near the rear, I must have done a pretty good job. When I turned in my evaluations of other class groups, my teacher said, "You have a really nice informal speaking style".

It really made my day to hear that. He's one of professors that I like and respect the most out of my five years in college; he brings real-world credibility and experience to the classroom. Furthermore, the feedback was unprompted; he made a point of letting me know that he enjoyed my presentation style and that I was obviously comfortable in front of a crowd (though compared to my teammates, the contrast was pretty strong).

I'm not sure how my grade will turn out, as it is reflective of the other members of my group, and we have yet to finish our related paper, but needless to say this compliment about public speaking really makes me happy. I might very well be teaching high school next fall, in which case I'll get lots more experience. My current schedule, full of presentations and speeches this term, probably has helped in the matter.

For anyone else that cares, I was so elated that I took this attitude out with me into the "field". Walking down the street, I noticed a girl holding an umbrella up even though the rain had stopped. I turned around to tell her that she didn't need her umbrella, and then we struck up a conversation. I didn't really want to get her number (see was kinda cute I guess) but she insisted before we ended up heading separate directions.

I need more afternoons like this one :-)