HERE COMES THE HARDEST PART

 
AS PRINTED IN MY LOCAL SUPPORT GROUP'S NEWLETTER,
JULY 2010.
HERE COMES THE HARDEST PART.
by STEWART  B  W.
After DBS surgery last October I was asked by 'she who must be obeyed', my Parkinson's Nurse Specialist, to givea talk at a Saturday morning seminar, discribing my experience of the procedure.
Being of a shy quiet disposition, public speaking is definately not my forte, in as much as I would rather face twenty hostile Zulus, than perform infront of an audience.Well wether I peformed or not, I did appear at the said seminar.
When first asked to do the talk, I went panic stricken with fear, to a good friend of mine who, just happened to be a member of Toastmasters, a public speaking group, begging him to give mea crash course in public speaking.
No worries said he, nothing's a bother, just come along to Toastmasters meetings and see what you think. I did just that and later I joined up as a member.
So after attending a few meetings, and picking up a few tips, input and advice, from those more experienced, it came to pass,that I was reqiured to give my first official speech at Toastmasters.
The topic I choose, was a subject I know most about, namely myself.                      Myself being, where I am at right now.
So behold, dressed appropiately, and not too well rehearsed, I presented myself accordingly, and purposely proceded, passionately performing a speech describing how I live with, deal and manage Parkinson's Condition.
Nervous as hell, I started by saying that I am travelling with Parkinson's Condition, that the term 'disease' did not sit well with me and indeed I did not have a disease of any kind.
Further to that I made it clear that the statement 'suffering with Parkinson's Disease'  is flawed, pointing out that I will not be described in such a negative manner.             I finished the opening salvo of my speech with - 'suffice to say, travelling with Parkinson's Condition'.
So, now that I had the attention of a well meaning critical audience, as well as the appointed evalulator, I went on to describe how I manage and deal with Parkinson's  Condition.
With a clear emphasis on attitude and a positive one at that, I erred by taking up all and more, than the alotted time allowed for my speech. Who cared anyway, by now I was in full nervous flow.
It was my 'war cry' that took me over the time, I witnessed the amazed looks as I said,'I've left my war cry against Parkinson's till last'.
Later in the evening the evaluator went to the lecturn, stunning me to the point of embarassment with her positive analysis. Quoting the Dali Lama she said you knew the rules and you broke them all, mentioning that it was a 'no no' to put my hands in my pocket yet ackowledging I did this to hide or stop any tremors, giving me a pat on the back for it.After that I received more feedback of a positve nature from fellow members. The best was yet to come, the toastmaster for the evening asked for a copy of my speech, what a complement.
In conclusion I have to say this whole thing is a massive challenge for me, I'm on a steep learning curve. I have had good win with this new venture and I feel an even bigger win against Parkinson's Condition, a slap in the face to this  imposter. I love it when this happens.
Before giving this speech I had jokingly said,                                                            
'I will deliver a speech, to rival Lincoln's Getysburg address', 
well all I can say is that it went better than I ever dared to dream.  
So in linking the begining to the end in true toastmasters style,
HERE COMES THE HARDEST PART,
which is - matching and bettering this effort.
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