How I overcame my fears and presented for “24 Hours of Reality”

How I overcame my fears and presented for “24 Hours of Reality”

By Emily Murphy

When I attended The Climate Reality Project training in July, I didn’t know much about the program. And when we went into breakout rooms to discuss how we would present “Truth in 10” to various audiences, I thought to myself, “I am never doing that.”

While I consider myself pretty outgoing, I have tended to avoid formally presenting to large groups, but I was firmly committed to the cause.

I joined the Chicago chapter, got involved in the Zero Waste Warriors Campaign and attended the Presentation Bootcamp, which really helped me get more comfortable with the idea of presenting.

As part of Zero Waste Warriors, we started planning a ton of initiatives. Then as “24 Hours of Reality” approached, it was suggested that we should try and deliver a presentation.

As much as I felt nervous about presenting,
I kept telling myself that if I didn’t
speak up, who would?

As much as I felt nervous about presenting, I kept telling myself that if I didn’t speak up, who would? Besides, I firmly believed that the biggest driver of change is people speaking up and educating others about climate change. As former Vice President Al Gore emphasizes, our individual voices have so much power; all we have to do is use them.

I have to admit that before the presentation, I probably only looked through the “Truth in 10” deck a couple of times. I wondered, what if I said some of the facts incorrectly, or someone asked me a question that I don’t know how to answer? But I pushed on.

The night before I was to present, I prepped and practiced and heavily leveraged the presenter’s notes. I ended up delivering the presentation twice, both Saturday and Sunday, and I have to say it felt very empowering.

Yes, I was nervous and, of course, I made some mistakes. But that’s OK because the point isn’t to deliver the presentation perfectly, it’s to deliver it. Period.

Emily Murphy became passionate about sustainability over the last few years and loves fostering animals and being a vegan foodie. She was trained as a Climate Reality Leader this past July, and is a member of the Zero Waste Warriors Campaign.

 

One Response

  1. Cynthia Linton says:

    Way to go, Emily.

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