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Because this is my graduation ceremony, I’m incredibly nervous. My hands are shaking out of control, my heart is beating like a drum, and I’m sweating buckets.
Good evening ladies and gentlemen. My name is Tadaomi Shiraishi. I gave a speech at MPP8, so tonight is my second time to make a speech at Mayflower. And actually, it will be my last time. In two weeks, I will move to Osaka, so tonight’s event, MPP9, is like my graduation ceremony. Thank you very much for coming!
Of course, because this is my graduation ceremony, I’m incredibly nervous. My hands are shaking out of control, my heart is beating like a drum, and I’m sweating buckets.
Imagine how you would feel , instead of sitting comfortably in your chair, if you were suddenly forced to stand here, in the spotlight, in my place, instead of me, with a room full of people staring at you, and give a speech. You would probably feel the same as I do, very very nervous!
But there is a reason, a very good reason, why I am here! A reason why I choose to be here, by myself, under all of this pressure. A reason why I have taken on the huge responsibility of speaking tonight! What’s my reason?
Well, let me tell you a story…Three and half years ago, I started studying at an eccentric English school named Phoenix. My purpose was to improve my business English. Even though I enrolled in the school, for the first six months, I could not attend classes at all.
Why? Because at the school, we couldn’t use any Japanese at all. It’s the same here at Mayflower. And at Phoenix, it seemed like all of the other students could speak English really well. They were fluent, all of them…except for me!
That situation was very uncomfortable for me. I had a lot of anxiety. So I always tried to escape from the anxiety by using this excuse: “Sorry, but I can’t join today’s class because of my job.” I must have used that phrase a million times!
But one day, unexpectedly, I ran out of excuses.
What happened? Well, I was chosen as one of the main actors of a Phoenix drama class. Of course it wasn’t my choice!
However, all of my wonderful classmates strongly encouraged me to be one of the main actors in our drama, so I promised them that “I’ll do my best”. No matter what happened, I couldn’t disappoint them. That promise, four little words “I’ll — do — my — best” was the beginning of…hell for me!
In order to carry out my responsibilities, I needed to sing songs in English, dance with my classmates, and spend a lot of time at extra rehearsals, practicing until late at night, even though I was very busy at my job. That was tougher that I ever imagined!
However thanks to all of our hard work, our class enjoyed a huge success with our drama! I felt amazing! There is no other way to describe it. It was the moment of a lifetime.
And after the drama, I also felt a new feeling. Something interesting. What was that?
Well, I stopped trying to avoid studying English. I finally understood that making a promise to my classmates to “do my best” made me take on a lot of heavy responsibility. And that responsibility increased my self motivation, more and more. I finally saw the light!
Thanks to this important realization, I started to notice that responsibility is the most effective way for me to keep my self motivation strong. Furthermore, I understood that this process would be a positive way to take an action in the future.
What’s the process?
Simple: being encouraged to do something, making a promise, taking on responsibility, working hard, and, achieving something under pressure, gives me increased confidence and enthusiasm to…make another promise, and repeat this process all over again!
After understanding that, I’ve been happy to follow this process, and take on some positive responsibilities, on purpose, based on my own choices.
So now you know why I am standing here tonight...because Robert suggested that I give a speech at MPP9. And I accepted.
So now you know why I am standing here tonight, with my hands shaking out of control, my heart beating like a drum, and sweating buckets. Because Robert suggested that I give a speech at MPP9. And I accepted.
Yes, I’m nervous, but I can enjoy the pressure, positive pressure, that comes from me making a promise, taking on responsibility, working hard to preparing my script, making my speech now while feeling lots of pressure, and most importantly achieving something!
Tonight, I’m confident that this speech has been a success. I’m almost finished, and I already have a great feeling. And that feeling will make me want to take on the next big challenge, whatever it may be!
Thank you so much for your attention, and for helping me to succeed tonight!
If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them!
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Mayflower英語教室
週末は英語漬け!
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