accidental public speaker
No, seriously….More of the story below.
when i was a college freshman
one of my professors encouraged me to submit a paper to a local student conference. Without really understanding what I was getting into, I said yes and sent my paper off to the committee for consideration. They accepted it. I was shocked, because that meant I needed to present at this conference, and I had zero public speaking experience.
To my utter surprise, public speaking was fun. I enjoyed it immensely, and people didn’t seem to mind listening. In fact, I kept getting asked to submit my work to more and larger conferences. Over the next few years, I presented all over the eastern US and even abroad.
Topics
Because I grew up in an Old Order Mennonite community, studied sociology, and work as a nurse, most of the speaking I’ve done has been on those topics.
The most popular presentations used to be those on Old Order Mennonites and healthcare. That’s changed a little bit, and recently I’ve been speaking more about sexual abuse, healthy sexuality, and health from a biblical perspective.
I try to limit speaking engagements to those that I’m really passionate about, topics and audiences that fit with what I believe I am called to do and be. And right now, that’s largely around the nexus of faith, health, and culture.
Eventually I’ll figure out how to properly embed a video. Meanwhile, here is a link to a homemade video I did on the topic of food freedom. It seems to have really hit a nerve with people, especially those who are frustrated with trying and failing yet another diet.