Lan Phan

After I was laid off at the beginning of the pandemic, I fell into a deep depression. What helped me overcome this was shifting my focus to serving others. When I stopped dwelling on the job I had lost and started thinking about how to serve others, I began climbing out of that dark place. Additionally, I prioritized my health: eating well, walking in nature, and reconnecting with friends—activities I had neglected while working. While the instinct might be to dive straight into a job hunt, prioritizing your mental and physical health is far more beneficial in the long run. Taking care of yourself equips you with the strength and clarity to navigate your career journey effectively.

When I was laid off at the beginning of the pandemic, my initial reaction was one of deep shame. It was my first experience getting laid off, and it hit me hard. However, once I moved past that initial feeling, I began to reach out to my network—friends, family, and professional contacts. The outpouring of emotional support, connections, and advice I received was overwhelming. Having a community during such a challenging time is incredibly important. However, here’s the key: you need to build those relationships and trust before you need it. Help others, be a support for others, and cultivate genuine connections year around. A layoff can feel isolating, but there is a community ready to offer support. All you need to do is ask.

Be a student in life, not just in communication but in all areas of life. What helped me communicate was talking to people I would normally not encounter in my day-to-day life. These could be people significantly older or younger than me, people of different ethnicities and walks of life. Be curious, and ask questions. When you genuinely learn to listen, you become a better communicator. It's equally essential to be a good student in life as we are teachers. The better we learn, the better we teach and communicate, and vice versa. Be a student of life, and doors will open for you in your career and friendships!

Breathing exercises and vocal warmups are crucial to being stage-ready. If you've never done so, just Google vocal warmup and breathing exercises on YouTube. Doing so ensures you steady your nerves and are able to use your voice like an instrument on stage. When you're on stage, you're a performer. Good performers understand that you are taking the audience on a journey with your words, pauses, eye contact, and movement. Public speaking and motivational speaking, in particular, is not just about your words; it's about how you make people feel. It's about motivating them to act and ultimately believe in themselves.

Before I get on stage, I have a pre-stage ritual: physical activity, breathing exercises, vocal warm-ups, and visualization. I always walk through the venue before I present so I know whether to enter stage right or left. I visualize the audience, run through my speech, and picture the emotions I want them to feel during different parts of my presentation. It's important that you have a clear visualization of the impact you want to make on the audience.

It's helpful to understand that most people, even seasoned speakers, feel the fear. I often think of the quote, "Courage isn't the absence of fear. It's feeling afraid and doing it anyway." The irony is that the more we face the fear, the less scary it gets. What has also helped me is reframing. Your body doesn't know the difference between nervousness and excitement. Tell yourself you're excited to speak. Another thing I do is have a pre-stage ritual. Before I take the stage, I do ten jumping jacks. This tricks my body into thinking that the reason my heart is beating and why I'm sweating is physical activity. I then do deep breathing exercises, meditate, and pray. The goal is not to execute a perfect speech but to connect & inspire.