Teaching raw - public speaking.

[luna99]

Hello friends...

I am going to be taking the level II alissa cohen class in the spring and will be starting to teach raw and living food classes hopefully when I get back from my honeymoon in september... for those of you that do it now.. how do you feel about public speaking and did it get easier as you went?

I think the statistics are something like more people would rather die than have to speak to a room full of people, and I personally don't like a lot of attention drawn to myself.. *But* I know If I were to be talking about raw foods and something that excites me and I'm passionate about, I could totally do it!

how was your first time? (teaching, that is! ;) ) and please tell me if you're prone to being nervous presenting something to people or if you like being in the spotlight.

thanks everyone!

[Beckla]

I actually love it. Didn't growing up ... but when I went to grad school, it wasn't optional any longer and I found my groove. Now I'm asked quite often to come and give presentations - doing one tomorrow night - and I enjoy the back-and-forth.

I have found that the more enthusiastic I am about the topic, the easier it is. Perhaps your love of raw will make it all the easier to get psyched up about the teaching aspect. That's the case for me professionally and, come to think of it, applied for the 10 plus years I taught swimming lessons.

[DavidZaneMason]

Exactly. Great points. There's no substitute for being enthusiastic, passionate, and knowledgable about the topic.

-Have a FAQ ready to hand out and maybe go through........answering those basic questions....and handing out a basic meal daily meal plan......can be a GREAT basic raw food course! Make sure to include a book/reference list for your students.

-Have fun and good luck! :)

-David Z. Mason

[rawOrchid]

I don't know if this will be of any help, but I've been doing public speaking since I was 9 at school, and I am now 23.

For me, like others said, finding that true passion and drive within you about the subject shows others how much you are giving of yourself.. and they will feed from that energy.

Another thing, I've been reading alot about the power of intention, and the more your intention is to help others, and to open their eyes and hearts, and soul to this beautiful way of living, the more you will be in your confort "zone", and you'll let the words manifest themselves, freely and openly, without fear, or anything else!

Good luck! Hope this helps...

[Revvell]

The reason people are afraid of public speaking is because they are thinking about themselves: How will they come across? will people like them? How do they look? Are people judging them? Well yeah, they are yet what they will judge most is how and what is presented to them. Their focus will be on what they came for ~ to learn more about what is being presented.

So, instead of thinking of yourself, think about your audience. What do you have to share with them? Food, personal stories, laughter, joy, love for what you do AND love for yourself because you're creating income doing what you love and showing others how they can love themselves by feeding themselves well and also offering them an opportunity to create income as well.

I was just thinking about this myself as normally when I'm speakng I'm doing demonstrations or interactive workshops. In a couple of weeks I'll be standing up and speaking for :30 ~ maybe a few of those minutes doing questions and answers but the rest, just me. Thinking about it that way, I get nervous. Thinking about what I have to share and that is "needs" to be out there and I'd be remiss in not sharing the information with people gets me excited.

Most of all, just make it fun and let your love and light shine through.

Hoping that helps ~

Revvell