Public Speaking

I never saw myself as someone speaking on a stage in front of a large audience until a few years ago when I was thrown in the deep end…

If you’ve already visited my ‘About’ page, you will know that growing up I was quite shy and preferred keeping myself to myself. (My parents even have a photo of me when I fell asleep under the dining table whilst hiding from relatives!)

Eventually I became comfortable speaking up in small groups and being a bit more social but studying a subject like Physics didn’t help that much with my presentation skills. It was only when I started working that I developed stronger presenting skills. In a professional capacity, I was absolutely fine; having a defined structure allowed me to work through what I needed to discuss. Having a good understanding of the topic provided me with the confidence to share my analysis and thoughts more effectively.

So how did I go from presenting my work in meetings to presenting on stage?

In Summer 2017, I created and successfully delivered an internship programme. One of the university partners of the programme invited me to attend their expo and a day before the event, I was asked to say a few words about the kind of work the interns got involved in. My understanding was that I would be sharing my two minutes informally at the stand so I didn’t even think I needed to prepare. 

Upon arriving at the event, to my surprise, I was shown the auditorium where I would be speaking. And this is where I shared a stage with a panel. My first time speaking on stage. Surprised and nervous, I took the microphone and planned to cover the basics and keep my talk short and sweet. I’m not sure what happened whilst I was speaking, but I was no longer anxious and felt like I had valuable messages to share.

There were many questions from the audience and I was excited to share what I had learnt and help clarify their concerns and thoughts about pivoting from studying Physics at university to starting a career in the financial industry.

Having been in the same position myself when I was a student, I knew that it wasn’t easy starting a career in a brand new area but it wasn’t impossible. Speaking to students across different universities, I found that I was in a position to help bridge the gap from studying STEM subjects to analytical careers in the financial industry.