Speech Fiasco

I do like the idea of public speaking and up until some time ago thought i was not too bad at it. A speech, if you could call it that, on the Welcome Night for the MBA batch of 2010 at LUMS made sure i change my mind on that thought. It was the first time i had a prepared speech, i love impromptu, i took 2 hours to write it. What contributed to the debacle was a bad audio system, a bad venue and a mike way too far from my face. Here is the tex of the speech.

"Assalam u alaikam ladies and gentleman and welcome to the “Welcome night” for the batch of 2010. There are quite a few activities planned for the evening and im sure you all hate long speeches so I’ll keep this as short as I can.

First of all, on behalf of the batch of 2009 I would like to congratulate you on being added to the illustrious group of individuals who have been a part of the LUMS MBA program. You have here today because your academic performance and work experience make you potential leaders of tomorrow. It is indeed an honor to be in this group and I am sure you will give due respect to this position of privilege.

Now to the more important part, being where you are right now, at the start of a rigorous 2 year MBA program you have plenty of choices in how to go about these 2 years. As your seniors, we consider it our duty and right to give you guidance based on our experiences. Whether you choose to learn from our learnings or want to learn from your own mistakes, is up to you but I would recommend getting some input before you go any further.

To keep it simple, ill choose two obvious options. The first option is that you choose to study real hard. You choose to get as many HP’s as you can, you choose to spend long hours in the library and stay up till 4 am reading up cases a week in advance and you choose to make your parents real proud with your grades and scholastic achievements, you choose to prove your worth not just to everyone around you but to yourself as well. After all there isn’t an academic stage in Pakistan which is as big as the LUMS MBA program. So that’s one option and to those who choose this option I wish you the best of luck and hope you reach the ultimate heights in academic excellence.

Now some students in this program choose not to take that route and instead decided to make a little more use of the freedom offered by college life. You may recall your time during your bachelors program which im sure wasn’t so long ago and along with all those fun filled memories, there are those moments of regret of things you DID NOT do. In the next 2 years you will be pushed to study day in and day out and its easy to get lost in all that rut so my advice is to not let that get to you. Rather live out these two years such that when you finish the MBA program you don’t end up with any regrets at all. Life’s too short and these 2 years will pass u by before u know it So just remember to live a little. You can join a society, become the president of society XY and Z, If you look around you, you’ll see some very special people. People you will make real good friendships with. Study them a little more than your books and I assure you, you’ll learn a lot more about how to better live your life. I must make it clear however I am not encouraging reckless behavior or careless shenanigans but just showing the option to selectively choose actions of a more… frivolous nature which of course must be based on mature judgment. This advice does come with a warning attached, if you take this option too far, you may not be here two years from now. Do remember that before you make your decision.

Well, that’s my two cents worth, its up to you which path you take but just remember any time you need any help you’ll find your colleagues from the batch of 2009 right behind you waiting to give you an extra hand. Thank you for listening and have a nice evening."

It wasn't all that bad though, hanging out with some friends helped ease the pain from the ego-bruising!