On the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, a group of people gather for an hour at lunchtime to practice public speaking. The group of co-workers are members of Toastmasters and each time they meet two or three members give a short speach on a topic of their choosing. The goal is to improve public speaking skills, and in the course of learning and practicing the group hears an incredible array of stories and facts from each other.
This week was my turn to speak. I had a topic planned, a humorous speech I’d given at a contest three days earlier. The contest had been a challenge, it had been terrifying and it had been thrilling. Standing in front of a room to be judged on being funny is not easy. The experience showed me that being outside my comfort zone is a good thing and so on Monday night I changed the topic of my speech. I wanted to once again go beyond my comfort zone. With an hour of drafting and pulling some pictures together before going to bed I crafted my new speech. A speech on a topic that puts me outside my comfort zone. A speech to my co-workers about the challenges of IVF.
Speaking in front of a group of relative strangers on this most personal of topics was scary. Looking back at the film I realise that my defense mechanism for fear is to smile. That explains some of the unusually times smiles or laughs in the speech. This is my speech, this is a glimpse into my experience of our IVF journey.
The Great Pudding Club Hunt 
I’m so proud of you!! I know that this couldn’t have been easy. I can tell that you were super nervous…and I don’t blame you for that, I don’t think I could have got three words out without bursting in to tears. I love you and you inspire me so much…I’m one lucky duck! Thank you for sharing this and speaking out Xxx
LikeLike
That brought tears to my eyes. So brave. Awesome.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Good for you for having such courage!
LikeLiked by 2 people
This is fabulous. And thank you for making me cry TWICE lol!! What were the responses you got from this?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Awww no! Although I’m pretty sure it was his intention to make people feel something, having said that I think it is harder for someone with IF to hear this because it brings up our own personal feelings we can relate to (there was someone in the audience who is an IF-er and she was apparently quite teary, unexpectedly). But this is a good question! I don’t know if anyone asked questions or what they said afterwards!! Although when I asked Chris if there were tears, he said that he could see few secretly wiping their eyes. Chris has been open about our infertility journey at work so it probably wasn’t a surprise topic for some.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, yes, and hormones lol! Many things make me teary-eyed or straight up cry these days. My apps keep telling me these last weeks of pregnancy make your hormones rage again. Can’t wait lol!
LikeLike
Hi Amy, thank you for the lovely feedback, i got a few surprised comments. I had been scheduled to do a funny speech but i changed my mind and did this instead. Some of my colleagues came and spoke to me after and asked a few questions. They hadn’t realised we had gone through this. Lots of supportive comments and a few people have mentioned they will think a little more before assuming anything about making babies!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such a great speech. I know it makes all of us who have been through IVF re-live all of the emotions. I don’t think I could have made it thru without crying. Well done!
LikeLiked by 1 person
He did a pretty good job! Like I said to Amy above, I think for us IF-ers it’s very personable to our own emotions which makes it harder to not cry…Chris’s automatic reaction to prevent that is to laugh/smile…. I gave him a bit of a slap when he seemingly smiled after telling everyone the bit about terminating our first pregnancy! I realise he didn’t mean it at all in that way, but it was defence mechanism! So that’s how I know he totally stepped out of his comfort zone with this 🙂
LikeLike
Thank you, I almost didn’t get through, a couple of points had me close to tears. I didn’t know until after watching the film that i smile when trying not to cry, i guess it is my defense mechanism. All the smiling is covering the tears!
LikeLike
Giving Impromptu speech is one big challenge and it takes deep courage to organise your thoughts in a short time. Good work.
LikeLike