I am an English teacher, and today, I would like to share a milestone in my teaching experience.

In high school, I was that student raising her hand as I was not afraid of publicly giving my opinion. One day, one of my English teachers invited me to participate in a radio program. They’d have a group of students talking about different topics for around 40 minutes a week. Even though I am not a big fan of my voice, I accepted my teacher’s invitation. It was then when I realized I was afraid of public speaking. Yes, you might think, “but it was a radio program” “no one was watching you.” Yes, I know! But believe me, I could hardly breathe. 

That fear stayed with me for a long time. My desire to overcome it was probably one of the reasons I decided to study English Language Teaching. I wanted to use my voice, ideas, and knowledge to help, encourage, and maybe — just maybe — inspire others. So, I became a very chatty teacher and co-worker. As a teacher, I need to admit that I would always avoid leading parents’ meetings or giving speeches in graduation ceremonies. That would panic me! 

Three years ago, I started working as the Head of the English Department at a high school. One of the very first things I thought when taking the job was, “Oh dear, what am I going to do when leading meetings, ceremonies, etc.?” Those thoughts would make me feel so nervous and anxious that I have to admit, sometimes, I looked for ways (in my mind) to wriggle out of such activities. But, my role demanded me to speak publicly to parents and students during school assemblies.

One day, my high school students were presenting some projects in front of their classmates. During some of their presentations, I noticed that the only thing that stood between them and their audience was fear. I realized that I would not want to see my kids feeling that way if speaking in front of large audiences. Thus, I decided to start a public speaking project.

This project focused on students practicing and developing their public speaking skills. The first phase of the project consisted of students presenting a topic for a minute. Little by little, the presentation time was increasing until students could deliver a 10 to 15-minute presentation. At that point, I was feeling so proud to see the anxiety on my students’ faces vanish, even in the face of uncertainty.

Months later, the school organized an official TEDx event. I thought my students were ready for the audition and would be chosen to give a real TED talk, and of course, as I expected, one of my students, Elisa Contreras, was selected. We spent hours and hours practicing until the big day came.

Here she is!