Public Speaking

Like so many, I desperately fear public speaking. I physically shake and mentally crumble. I’ve always been a better writer than a speaker with so much to say and no way to say it. So when The Photography Show approached me last October asking if I’d like to talk about my precious Dreamcatcher Project to a large audience on stage…of course I said “yes please” with a confident smile…and then cried for a month whilst quivering in a corner with fear!

So how can it be that a model; a person who spends her life in front of a camera; is so terrified of walking out in front of a bunch of people and being asked to speak? Well, it’s quite simple: I am the muted mannequin.

As a model I am not required to talk nor am I expected to show outward judgement, personal expression or opinions. Of course I am expected to bring those elements of my personality into a shoot as directed by the theme of the images, but I am to predominantly use my body alone to project them. I am a blank canvas, a clothes horse and therefore a mannequin.