The Unturned Chapter of the Untold Story.
“Public speaking is what I have been doing for years on my own. Why should I go to a special club to practice that? Isn’t it ridiculous?” An extract from my chamber of thoughts, Pre-Gavel.
Because a stone that is left unturned, will never be known to the real world and a chapter that is not read is a story that will never be told.
It was when one day that my good friend Bimshika and I were speaking through a direct message on Instagram about some controversial topics, that she mentioned a club called the “Gavel Club”. And as the usual story goes I learnt that it was the junior version of Toastmasters, and somehow she succeeded in convincing me to join. Walking in the rooms of azure at the Royal College Skills Center for the first time in my life was incredible. This was first the “Speak to conquer” workshop which I had brought my school delegates to. The humble President at the time Ms. Shyranthi was a very open and genuine person who clarified my doubts about Gavel.
However even still I was not convinced enough to join the Colombo Gavel Club, until I had seen the Toastmasters speak. Those few speeches changed the way I thought about Toastmasters and Gavel immensely.
I learnt that the quintessential component in being a good public speaker is to only speak half of what you know and to listen twice as much as you speak. The journey that I embarked on thereafter was not an easy one. I had to go through many hurdles in order to keep in touch with Gavel. There were days that i had to walk from the time Gavel ended until I could find the bus home, sometimes for more than three kilometers. But then despite all hardships, I urged myself forward to somehow balance Gavel with my school work and to make it to every meeting.
Nevertheless despite all the hard nights, I would always somehow make it to Gavel. After watching Mr Dananjaya Hettiarachchi story in his speech the imperative component of a great speaker that he implored was the the perseverance that is needed to expound ones thought no matter what. I made it my mission to learn from every single person in the club despite how age might have been a barrier for me.
It lead me to smoothen my flow of speaking and enhanced the calibre of my speeches on to a level that I was not sure I was personally capable of until it was achieved through my short time at the Colombo Gavel Club. There is always at least one person who would genuinely speak to me at every meeting and this club qualifies to be one of the most rare places where I personally can talk to people in the most honest of terms. What this necessarily means is that Gavel is not just a place for public speakers to convene, but it is is the haven for all all dreamers and the trendsetters to rendezvous in pursuit of greatness whilst helping friends.
This unique club invoked in me the quality that was embedded within my soul which is the sole quality of helping each other. It was when I saw one little kid who was struggling in his speech one day at a table topic session, that I got up and approached him right after his speech which was barely 4 sentences long and helped him up a speech. The feeling of helping another with his speech was overwhelmingly selfless. This quality that was inspired through CGC is addictive. Because at the end of the day after I went home I was grateful for this club for providing me the opportunity with helping others, through my gifted skills as a public speaker. It is profoundly true that unless the large teacup is filled with water it can never fill up the little cups of with water. Utilising the exact same theory it is is imperative that I state that CGC fuelled the teapot of my public speaking with immense knowledge and experience that was never-before-seen in my life as a public speaker.
Having first started speaking on a wooden stage at school in front of 50 people when I was 14 years old, delivering a speech about plastic surgery and moving on to announcing at the BMICH over 2000 people four years later, stage fright was something that I had to conquer a long time ago. However to all the nervous public speakers it is inevitable that one should know stage fright never dies away. It is tried and true that ranging from the best public speakers to the novice public speakers in the world stage fright will always be a common phenomenon. However what happens with experience is that stage fright diminishes within the experienced public speaker. one of the main habits that I had during each session that Gavel had was to observe the mannerism of speaking in the other Gaveliers.
Being a self made public speaker under the guidance of the teachers at my school I was never exposed to an outer environment of speakers. Whilst Gavel facilitated in the process of destroying said edifice and opening up new avenues of thought within my mind on the dimensions of a speaker. This became one of the greatest lessons learnt, to never judge a book by its cover. Because you don’t know the story until you turn the page. I never knew Gavel was family until I chose to take a step, without being afraid.
