Golden Threshold

A leaf from history.
Location: Golden Threshold, Hyderabad

The stone inscription reads, "This tree planted by Mahatma Gandhi is from a sapling grafted on the famous mango tree in Yervada Jail under which he did his fast for the removal of untouchability". Humbling. 

Golden Threshold was the erstwhile residence of Nightingale of India Smt. Sarojini Naidu. Smt. Naidu even composed a poem titled "The Golden Threshold". Now this place has been taken over by Hyderabad Central University. Thankfully, much of the original house remains intact despite being in the heart of the city.

Seven or So Secrets of Public Speaking

I believe my friends have more faith in my abilities than I do. At least one of them does. Or just because he is a Prof, he wants to prove a point about how difficult it is to hold the attention of an indifferent audience for two-and-half hours with your public speaking skills. The last time I tried the public speaking act,  I barely got away by the skin of my teeth from a crowd of overly expectant audience. You can read all about it here. So considering my track record and iffy experience, asking me to take up a similar job a second time didn't seem to be such a great idea. But as I said, my friends seem to have more faith in my abilities than I do. Or at least one of them does.

Well, good idea or bad, being a true friend in need, I committed to the job and started working on the presentation. This time around, I wanted to leave no stone unturned to make sure that the program went well. So, I prepared well. In fact, a bit too well. So what was supposed to be a two-hour presentation turned out into a three-hour sleep fest. Thankfully, the members of the audience were smart enough to ask questions to avoid nodding off their chairs. Poor devils. All said and done, it wasn't too bad. In the process I got to learn the seven secrets of public speaking.

1. Keep prodding the audience to ask questions. The more questions they ask, the better their chances of staying awake. At least some of them. It shouldn't matter that you know all the answers. You can put an all-knowing face and say with a sly smile, "Go figure it out yourself and get back to me." Also make sure you take take questions from all around the class.
2. Don't be in love with your voice. If you are, at least don't resort to frequent monologue. Even incurable insomniacs can start snoring in no time. Let others speak so that you can appreciate how good your voice is.
3. If you lose track of what you are speaking because your attention is diverted by a strikingly pretty face in the audience (which happened to me quite often this time) or you suffer from ADD (again something which I have) then stop. Take a deep breath. Resume. Pausing while not speaking sense is better than non-stop gibberish.
4. A word on time management. Don't cross the time limit and don't lose track of time. Know when to give a break. People get restless in no time. 
5. Crack jokes. Only if you have a sense of humor. Otherwise, resist the temptation. 
6. Sweep the class with your eyes. It helps to scan faces and see who's paying attention. And who is not. It helps manage the crowd better.
7. Last but not the least, know your subject, at least some of it. Speaking of which, you should also have the art of deflecting the questions in case  you don't know all the answers.

Hope the next time your friends put you in a similar spot, these lessons I learned the hard way will come in handy.