Rahul Menon helps BU students fight stage fear

By Lisha Bhasker

We all want to shine on stage, but we are afraid that we might make ourselves a laughing stock, Mr. Rahul Menon boosted the confidence of Bennett University students by holding an event on 9-10 March,2019. After quitting job in HDFC bank, Mr. Rahul Menon has worked with over 40 institutions in the field of debating. The two-day event focused on getting rid of stage fright, embarrassment and boasting confidence. The event started with a prep talk and some fun activities on Day-1 followed by a mock Model United Nations (MUN) session on Day-2.

Stage fright is the fear of embarrassment

Day-1 began with brainstorming a definition of stage fright. Mr. Menon came up with a definition stating, “Stage fright is the fear of embarrassment.” He said, “We should stop questioning ourselves, the real problem arises when the audience starts questioning us.” After some prep talk, Mr. Menon picked some students who agreed to have stage fright and told students to deliver one-minute speech on the topic, ‘Is India a democratic country?’ The first day of the event focused on some key issues like stammering, facing questions on stage, and how to tackle counter questioning in a debate.

Spontaneity and facts- two factors needed

“Two factors that are necessary for a confident speech on stage are – spontaneity and facts,” stated Mr. Rahul. After the first round of speech caught an applaud, Mr. Menon went on with a second round. The topic given to students to debate upon was concerning the response to Pulwama Attack. Before parting for a break, he gave each student personal reviews on how they can make their speech better.

Post lunch break, Mr. Rahul Menon and his team allotted each student (delegate) a country that they would represent. He told them the rules of procedure for tomorrow’s mock MUN. The briefing took about one and a half hour where students clarified their doubts and Mr. Menon announced some awards to be given tomorrow. Agenda stated, ‘Assisting India and Pakistan to create a saturation point via plan of action to the non-state activities with and across the borders.’ Reference sites for research were provided to students.