To Speak or not to Speak

 

Last year I was asked to submit a paper to speak about my life as a prison librarian at the Cilip Cymru annual conference. To my horror I was chosen. For those that know me, know I like to talk, but public speaking that’s my worst nightmare. I go red, voice crack the lot. So when it was cancelled due to Covid I can’t say I was bitterly disappointed, more a feeling of overwhelming relief. So imagine my delight when they asked this year for the same speakers. No getting out of it now.

I prepared what I was going to say, timed it, practiced on colleagues etc. Not having a presentation wasn’t a problem – something I thought would be, just speaking is an option.

Still, on the day I was as nervous as I would have expected. It was very strange speaking online as there are no reactions to your ‘jokes’, but then the bonus was, I couldn’t see people’s reactions to how red I was. I’m pretty sure I was glowing! I managed to think on my feet and answer the questions afterwards and the feedback was better than I could have ever expected.

So I would say to anyone who thinks they don’t have anything to say to the wider profession. You’re wrong. I’m not confident in my writing abilities, being more of a hands on person than ‘academic’. If I managed to write something that others listened to and apparently found interesting then you can do so to. The nerves of public speaking were in all honesty horrific, but the adrenaline afterwards (or maybe the after effects of 6 coffees through the morning) was great. Would I do it again? Possibly. As long as no-one is expecting a serious, academic presentation from myself and maybe one day I’ll get my head around PowerPoint. As it turns out, just speaking about what you do can be of interest to others.

So put yourself out of your comfort zone. The worst that could happen, as I kept saying to myself, is that you have to just show your new lucky library themed socks instead…

 

Sarah Sparham, Prison Librarian, HMP Northumberland