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react instantly. While public speaking
may not be a matter of life or death, we

practice doing it in Toastmasters for the same
reason pilots practice – to develop good
habits. Things will go wrong when we are
speaking, and practice is what gives

us the confidence to continue,
no matter if our mind went
temporarily blank, the slide
projector failed, or we have

a heckler in the audience.
Instead of being completely derailed, we
have enough altitude and time. After completing quickly handle the problem and get back on
the first two Gs, you can try to restart the engine. track.

This may involve switching to a reserve fuel I have fond memories of those flying
tank, or other measures, depending on your lessons so many years ago, and that feeling of
plane. However, if the engine doesn’t restart exhilaration as the plane accelerated during the
immediately, don’t waste any more time on it. take-off roll. I sold the plane a few years later

Concentrate on your emergency landing site when I put my disposable income to better use
and getting the plane on the ground. buying a house. I do miss flying, but these days I
After learning about the three Gs, I asked get my adrenalin rushes from making speeches.
my instructor about flying at night. He said you I did discover a similarity between flying and

follow the same steps and when you are close public speaking. Just like an excellent landing,
enough to the ground for them to be useful, an excellent speech is one you can use again.
you turn on the landing lights. I asked, “What
if you don’t like what you see when you turn

on the lights?” He said, “Turn ‘em off.” That’s
a bit of pilot humor. Another example is “Any
landing you walk away from is a good one. It’s
an excellent landing if you can re-use the plane.”

The whole point of practicing these
emergency procedures is so they become habits.
In a crisis, we often don’t have the luxury of
taking our time deciding what to do – we must

VOICES! | NOVEMBER 2021 19