What scares you the most?
My biggest fear was the fear of public speaking. I found out I wasn’t alone. Three out of four people suffer from this fear which is called glossophobia. I have worked very hard to overcome this fear and now I speak in public on a regular basis. I have written a book about my struggle as well as the struggle of others, titled Shaking Behind the Microphone: Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking.
How do you work through self-doubts and fear?
For the most part, I have overcame my fear of public speaking, but sometimes this fear will still creep in. One of the things I did to overcome my fear was to go skydiving. Now I can tell myself, “I’m not afraid of these people. I went skydiving from 12,000 feet. I also have self talks, saying, “This is silly, you’ve done this ten times before without any trouble, and you can do this now.”
Why do you write?
I grew up as a very shy person. I started writing as a way to communicate. I was always writing in journals, and writing poems. When my children were little I made up songs for them, and when my grandchildren were young I started writing stories using their names as the characters. Writing is also a great way to leave your own troubles behind for a while and be creative.
What motivates you to write?
We all have the same amount of time in the day. Some of us are very busy and have to decide what is most important. I can waste time by watching TV or going on the internet, just like anyone else. I have so many ideas all the time that I feel the pull of writing and I try to write something every day. If I haven’t written for a few days, I will make time to go and write something down. Especially with fiction, your story will go better if you write every day, then when you aren’t writing the ideas will keep coming. If you don’t write for a while you will waste time rereading everything so you can try to remember where the story was headed.
What writing are you most proud of?
It’s a tossup between What’s It Like, Living Green: Kids Teaching Kids, by the Way They Live and Drugs Make You Un-Smarter. Both books have won multiple national book awards. Drugs Make You Un-Smarter is the winner of the National Mom’s Choice Award. http://www.jillvanderwood.com/willg/ http://www.jillvanderwood.com/dmyu/about.html
Where do you get your inspiration from?
I often wake up in the morning with story ideas in my head. Sometimes I’m listening to a song or watching a TV show when an idea comes to me as well. At times a family member will ask me to write a book on a subject of interest to them. One night I was watching the news and they were talking about the anniversary of Earth Day. I went to bed wondering if we had made any difference in the world since the first Earth Day. When I woke up in the morning I knew I had to write What’s It Like, Living Green, Kids Teaching Kids, by the Way They Live. I also knew I needed to interview kids who are environmentally aware and I knew the title and what I wanted on the book cover. Sometimes as a writer you will have an ”ah ha” moment.
What books did you love growing up?
I loved reading books by Edward Edgar—he writes books about kids going on magical adventures. The books I read growing up had an influence on the first book I wrote, Through the Rug, which is a magical adventure of ten year old Alyssa, her grandmother and a pink and green dog named Domino.
A portion of this books proceeds are donated to Jr. Achievement
Do you suffer from the fear of public speaking? You are not alone. In the book, Shaking Behind the Microphone: Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking, Jill Vanderwood shares her story of being terrified to speak in public. She now speaks to groups and teaches workshops without fear. You will read about others who struggle with this common fear; those who had a choice to either learn public speaking or risk losing their job.
Learn tips from experts; read about kids who learned public speaking at an early age, and stories from performers who tell others how to perform without fear. You will also acquire untraditional solutions for overcoming fear and anxiety. Taking steps toward overcoming the fear of public speaking will put you on the road to living a better life.
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Genre - Adult Nonfiction
Rating – PG
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