Conference went well .

[Teresa]

As members of a social group we were asked if we would make a presentation at a conference to improve all aspects of the NHS and also to relate the NHS to our personal circumstances . Eventually it came down to three of us to fill a 30 minute slot . I will admit that apart from making a speech at my daughters wedding I haven't done any public speaking at all. Carole had prepared an intro another member who was into transition and on hormones and myself who had counselling through the NHS .
The lecture theatre wasn't quite full but when we walked in I did think Oh **** what have we let ourselves in for . Our slot was after mid morning coffee so when the chair lady announced us and we filed towards the rostrum my mind had gone a complete blank, Carole did the intro the second member read her story from a script , as I listened my mind was empty then Teresa was asked to speak . So no notes or script I stepped from behind the rostrum and approached the delegates , I broke the ice by saying how scary it was to stand in front of a group dressed as I was and then added it may be equally scary for them looking at me . So then I just flowed into my story and experiences involving the NHS, before I knew it Carole was having to step in to finish our time slot with her closing lines . We had a really good questions session and were well applauded back to our seats .

I know the other two were concerned knowing I hadn't prepared anything , I was sacred in those few moments when my brain felt totally empty !

I felt so proud of all three of us , we were worried that we would never fill the slot instead we received some very nice comments and the great and most important aspect is we put the TG community a little more into the open and to the right audience because that is where most of us seek our help from .

[Genny B]

Congratulations! It's a great feeling to walk into the unknown with some fear and to come out with a successful moment in life to be cherished!

Genny B

[Robertacd]

What does NHS stand for?

[Helen_Highwater]

Roberta,

NHS = National Health Service, the UK's single payer system of health care.

Teresa,

Congratulations on your success. I'm fortunate in that I through my company received training in public speaking. Before that I wouldn't say boo to a goose in public. Standing up in front of an audience can be so daunting. Hence my advice to you would be if asked to do it again, rehearse. Decide what you want to say, while talking alone to a wall right down the bullet points. For every minute I spoke I rehearsed for 15.

Getting it right left me knowing just why comedians do stand up. Applause is the most addictive drug there is.

[Tracy Irving]

That is way, way cool!

[Becky Blue]

Well done Teresa, your a natural!!!

[Joyce Swindell]

Awesome!

As far as the public speaking fear....here in USA we have an organization called Toastmasters. This is a group formed and organized specifically to help each other become better speakers. I'm not certain if it is anywhere else in the world. Not sure if you can find an accepting group....one can only check it out!

But as far as that goes...it sounds like everything went very well! Congrats!

[SamanthaToday]

I applaud you as well. Very well done.

[Lydianne]

Congratulations, Teresa!

Taking being out to a whole new level of difficult! . It must give you a bucket load of extra confidence to go back to regular daily life stuff after having done a lecture.. And you've helped spread a message .

Huge respect to you for doing that! . So when's the next one? .

- Lydianne.

[Dee Baker]

Teresa, I also I applaud you. Often the best speeches are not read from a script or notes but rather spoken from the heart.

[bridget thronton]

Very well done

[Kiwi Primrose]

It's great to hear how well you carried the message. Sometimes speaking in public can be over-thought and it seems you got the balance right.
And I love your postings, they show great insight.

[Teresa]

Helen,
Yes point well taken, it was a risk to take if my mind stayed a total blank !

The problem we had was we had a very vague brief , as it turned out on the day the audience or other delegates wasn't quite what we expected , if I'd written a full scrpt before hand and the reheared it , It would have been slightly off the agenda .

Dee,
That's the problem there is so much can come from the heart , I could have talked for far more time but then the danger would have been turning it into an impromptu counselling session.

I don't want to turn this into a NHS debate , but I'm now thinking one subject that does need addressing is the one of signage . My wife works in the NHS and during refubishment a new sign appeared for the X-ray dept , I believe it was " Visual Imaging suite/ dept " They had it drummed into them to drop the old term, they weren't being awkward with management but they knew patients would be going round in circles looking for the X-ray dept. You see it so much in hospitals etc. using the correct medical terminology is just too confusing for most of the patients . As we found from this conference accomodating people with severe hearing difficulties and impaired vision isn't thought through enough. Signage often appears to be done by people who know where they're going and less thought to the people who don't . There's no greater example than road signs and I don't think the British are alone with this problem .
Another headache is security , a deaf representative stood up to share his views on the NHS, the one story that stuck in my mind was he couldn't regain access to the maternity suite and missed the birth of his baby, he didn't have the door code and of course he couldn't speak into the voice system and as he pointed out a person banging on the door would have just brought the security staff to possibly evict him .

[Helen_Highwater]

Teresa,

You raise some important points we should all be aware of. We tend to think of disabled in terms of either wheelchair bound or learning difficulties when in fact many disabilities are invisible.

Sight and hearing are two. For me it's a measure of a societies worth in just how well it makes sure anyone with a disability has full access to those things we take for granted.

[Teresa]

Helen,
I missed out a speaker from the migrant population, OK often a contentious issue but she echoed those thoughts along with dealing with the language barrier. she put up a message at the end of her talk saying , " I AM A PERSON ! " that resounded around the room !

Sadly and as I said in my talk, the members present within the NHS all scamble for their budgets , I admitted the TG community are a minority so will never be top of the list , it isn't a bottomless pit I'm afraid some ares are going to have to be paid for if the NHS is to survive , maybe we expect too much of it , lets face it most of us aren't in the same situation as when the system was first established . I know the argument is we have paid for it and the gripe comes when some get priority when they haven't paid a penny into it. On the other side of the coin anyone from anywhere in the World can fall ill or worse have an accidnet and their healthcare will be there for them , that's the part we should be proud of !

[Beverley Sims]

It is amazing how you can fill a slot without preparing a script.

If you let your mind wander and ask for questions you can make the time spread out.

Often you don't have enough time and the audience becomes interested.

[Jenny22]

" Visual Imaging suite/ dept " .... used to be 'X-Ray'. Had to chuckle a bit. Some years ago, here in the US, Life Jackets were renamed as Personal flotation Devices. Just plain DUMB!!

[Vikky]

What a scary but marvellous experience. Well done, all three.
Vikky