In high school I was president of the Student Council, and I ended up doing a lot of speeches. After you do a few in front of different schools, you get really comfortable talking in front of an audience.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
We had an exercise in speech class in school, impromptu speaking, that I was always real good at.
I'm less shy now than I was as a kid. After Flight 1549, my family and I had to become public figures and more complete versions of ourselves. I had to teach myself to become an effective public speaker.
At one point in college I was so shy that I'd drop out of a class if asked to speak in front of other people.
I participated on debating teams and in student government, and served as senior class president.
I always used to get in trouble for talking too much. When it was time for parent-teacher conferences, I remember that I was always embarrassed about what my parents would hear about me!
When I give speeches at college, I don't tell stories, I talk about what it is to live your dreams and take the path less traveled.
I took a public speaking class in college and managed to make the class laugh a little bit.
One of the areas I have a little less confidence in is giving any kind of a speech.
I was so afraid to even read a paper in front of my classmates. It is very funny because at that point my teachers would never have believed that I could speak in front of an audience of over 2,000 people.
I had a bad experience doing public speaking at school. I had to talk about a pen for five minutes and it was really hard work. I couldn't wait to get off the stage.