I would like to introduce all of you to Sinchon Toastmasters club which I go to every Sunday afternoon.If you are interested in going to the club, you can visit the website, http://sinchon.freetoasthost.org/ or contact me. Following is a sample of a speech I gave last week:
CTM #5 Positive Imagery
Good afternoon fellow toastmasters and most welcomed guest. Before I begin I would like all of you to close your eyes for a moment. Picture your upcoming challenge, be it asking your boss for a raise, giving your next toastmaster’s speech or attending an important business conference or meeting. Picture it in detail. The place you are at, the atmosphere of the surroundings. How will you act, with confidence or poise or will you stammer? How will the people respond? Is it favorable or discouraging? Got the picture? Now, open your eyes. So how many of you pictured a good situation or outcome?
Many of us would end up imagining a bad situation or about the worries that trouble us. What happens if I stammer when giving a speech? What happens if I go up to the podium and nothing comes to mind? What happens if my boss rejects my request? These are just one of the many worries that come to mind when we imagine a challenging situation. We usually picture a negative situation because we don’t want to be disappointed by our dreams again. Many of us had a lot of dreams when we were young, but after a few discouraging events we gave up dreaming or picturing positive images because it was easier without the disappointment if we failed.
However, picturing a negative situation is not only bad for motivation but might also make it more likely to happen. I’m sure most of you all have read about the amazing powers of our subconscious mind, right? Visualization is a way of connecting with our subconscious mind. The things we think or imagine are more likely to happen. If we can have it working for us, why have it work against us? Why imagine a negative situation when a positive situation would benefit us much more?
You can practice positive imagery during your free time or just before sleep. It can be about anything, from giving a speech, to an important business meeting to playing basketball. You should picture the situation you desire vividly. The more vivid and real it feels, the more likely it will happen. Let’s take playing basketball for example. If you want to be better, besides training daily, picture a positive image of it every night before sleeping. You are standing on the basketball court. Imagine the feel of holding the ball in your hands. The feel of bouncing the ball on the ground three times, aiming at the basket, throwing the ball, the ball flying through the air and finally the swoosh sound of the ball going through the hoop. This technique is used by many coaches to bring out the best in their athletes. We can’t expect all of it to work just like we can’t expect every ball to go in the hoop. However, through positive imagery, we do get a lot better results compared to worrying about it or not thinking about it at all.
I would like to quote Franklin D. Roosevelt, men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds. If we can imagine a bright and positive future, we can achieve it. So after listening to my speech, I hope everyone can positively visualize their future and not worry or paint a negative image of the future. Since it is the nature of thoughts to find its way into action, eventually the positive, clear and vivid images we imagined for our future will turn into action and action into reality. Dream but don’t let dreams be your master, take a step towards your positive vision now!