LET STUDENTS SPEAK MORE

 The Speech I Never Gave—Until Now

Introducing Ashish M,,,—my batchmate from MBA college. The Casanova.

If I was an ‘x’ level nark, he beat me by at least ‘10x.’ He thought he was the King of Bombay. Well, I believed I was no less than a Bengali Queen.

By some strange twist of fate, we ended up in the same book presentation group for our Branding class. Our topic? Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout.

The Book Presentation was a high-stakes event—you didn’t just present; you made an impression. I got to work from day one: reading articles on branding, scouring the web for insights, making notes, rehearsing tirelessly.

Meanwhile, the so-called King of Bombay had just one piece of advice for me:
"Take a chill pill, Jaya."

I couldn’t.
It wasn’t the topic that scared me—it was the fear of freezing on stage.

D-Day arrived. I had already puked three times and wished a car would hit me before I reached college. Unfortunately, Delhi was driving way too safely that day.

Then came our turn. The King of Bombay and the Bengali Queen took the stage.

I was convinced I would freeze. Even more certain that he—who hadn’t even picked up the book—would go blank too.

The mic was thrust into my hands. I barely managed:
"Positioning means occupying the mind of the consumer."

And then—BLACKOUT.

To my utter shock, M—who supposedly hadn’t read a single line—snatched the mic and carried on. Not only had he done his homework, but he delivered his speech with jaw-dropping confidence.

I, on the other hand, just wished the earth would swallow me whole.

When it was over, I was devastated. The King of Bombay walked up to me, smirking.
"Work hard, but don’t take yourself so seriously," he said.
Then, as if bestowing royal wisdom:
"Hide your fangs, girl! I like to pretend I’m the dumbest person in the room. It takes everyone off guard."

Long before Gen Z popularized “Let them,” M…….. was already living by it.
Clearly, the mindset has worked—he’s now the Business Head of a national-level magazine.

As for me? That moment shaped me in ways I didn’t realize at the time.
I know what it feels like to have words trapped inside you, to have something to say but no voice to say it with. My schooling hadn’t trained me to trust my voice let alone articulate it.

That’s why, as a teacher, I make it a point to get my students talking. Public speaking isn’t just about confidence—it’s about self-belief. I don’t want a single child sitting in my class feeling like I did that day, paralyzed by fear.

They will speak.
They will stumble.
They will learn that their words matter.

By the way ,Ashish , remember that promise I made? That someday, I would beat you in public speaking?
Well, I’m ready. Precisely 25 years later.

Salute, King of Bombay ! I make every voice in my class matter because of you.