PurpAnd

Yesterday was the big day and if you read my previous post about the invitation I got, you know what I was up to. If not, here’s the short version… My friend Eric teaches a Real Estate Economics class at UC Davis. I was invited to go and speak to his class about my job as a commercial real estate appraiser. This was a scary thing for me to do, but I did it and I am so glad I did.

Public speaking is a ‘no-can-do’ for many people. It was for me (big time) leading up to this speaking engagement yesterday and I had all the classic symptoms heading into the lecture hall - fast heart rate, sweaty palms, shallow breathing - but once I was introduced and took the stage, it was totally fine. Well, not fine because I can’t remember the first half of the lecture, but I didn’t die, no one threw anything at me, and my shorts remained dry.

My lecture was focused on what it’s like being an appraiser, how you get to be one, and then on some recent market stuff. I finished by showing off what I have done in my own practice and I think that helped shine up the profession a bit. (I flashed some pictures and included one of my ‘trophy’ assignment from a couple months ago.)

After the lecture, I had some time for question and answer and was impressed with the questions I received from the students. I don’t remember how many questions exactly, but I’d guess 8 or 10. I could tell some of the students were curious about the job and I could also hear their concerns about the job market in general (many of them were graduating seniors). The Q&A portion really made my day because I went into the lecture with the goal of bringing value to at least one person (out of a class of 260 my odds were pretty good) and the interest I saw proved to me that I actually got through to several people - totally gratifying.

As we were leaving the lecture hall, my dad showed up to say hello. He works/teaches at UC Davis also and was in attendance for my guest lecture. He had worn a hat to disguise himself, but I assured him that due to my eyeglasses prescription being two years old, he was safely outside of recognition range if he sat more than four rows back. He made a comment about how cool it was to see a couple of guys he had known since they were kids all grown up and handling very real and adult responsibilities. This was nice to hear and he said he was so pleased to be there to watch.

This lecture was a tremendous learning experience for me on a number of levels. First and foremost, I learned that speaking to large groups is not as bad as it seems. A friend told me that the lead-up to things like this is often worse than actually going through it and that proved to be true. I still can’t pinpoint what it is that concerned me so much about doing this, but now I have this experience to look back on when something like this comes up again (and I am sure it will in some capacity or another).

Many of you had advice for me and all of it was correct. The audience is there for me and wants me to deliver and not fail. I was the expert in that room yesterday so if I made a mistake, likely no one would notice. And as I looked around the classroom, it totally made it easier when I focused on those students who were clearly listening to me.

I’m very happy to say I also learned that teaching is a real possibility for me. I am not sure at what level, but having used yesterday’s lecture as a litmus test for my teaching potential, I feel that I could really love being a teacher. I was told that my lecture was pretty good (although I can’t remember half of it) and that I seemed natural in front of the class. That’s good news because in the moment (or moments since I was up there for an hour) I couldn’t gauge how it was going.

Lastly I learned that aside from the specifics of this one event, I am capable of a lot if I just believe in myself and trust my preparation and skills. Sounds corny, I know, but it’s very true. It made a huge difference.

I want to thank all of you for your support, advice, comments, etc. I’m grateful and blessed to have a wonderful support system and am pleased that I can share this stuff through my website. And thank you to Eric for inviting me to speak to his class - he may not recognize it, but for me this was much more than an invitation to talk to his class. Yesterday was a big event for me (possibly even a defining moment or at least a possible game changer). I am proud of myself for taking the opportunity to face a fear and for beating it back like a champion.