One very embarrassing speech experience came to mind. Basically I gave that speech in an English speaking contest that took place?back when I was in secondary school.

?

Before that, I had no prior experience in?speech whatsoever. But I managed to excel in English exams which included reading and writing, so I just naturally assumed?I would do well in speaking. In a moment of bravado, I signed up?two hours before the actual contest. So without any preparation, let alone rehearsal, I stepped into the auditorium?where the event was being held.

?

I was greeted by?a penal of four judges, as well as about 20 schoolmates. It was only the first round, so the audience was relatively small, thankfully. But that didn’t stop me from freaking out internally. I remember my heart was racing and I broke into a sweat. During the contest, we were asked to give an impromptu speech?based on ten key words. And we were given 2 minutes to prepare.

?

After I saw how fluently other candidates delivered their speech, I panicked?even more. When it’s finally my turn, I went on stage?with my heart in my throat. My mind went completely blank. And I found myself stumbling over my words. My speech was a mix of?incoherent words and?long pauses. The blank stares?from the audience definitely didn’t help with the situation. So it turned out to be a complete mess. And?traumatized?me for quite some time.

?

However, through this experience, I also came to the realization?that just because you can earn high grades doesn’t mean you’re gonna speak fluent English. So from that point onwards, I began putting more effort into practicing English speaking. Yeah, so I felt that it’s a very humbling experience?that where I learned an important lesson.