Shaky Hands

I didn’t know I had shaky hands until junior high speech class when I gave a speech with a piece of paper in my hand. I was horrified as my hands shook so much I couldn’t read it. For the next assignment I lip-synched Paul Simon’s Love Me Like a Rock.  It went so well that my teacher asked me to perform at the Christmas pageant. The pageant was called Country Christmas based on the TV show Hee Haw. One thing led to another and I found myself donning an all-white outfit, pasting on black sideburns, and doing an Elvis impersonation to the song Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me. The speech teacher told the girls that were gathered around me on stage to start screaming. Before you know it, the girls and moms in the audience started screaming too and the whole gymnasium was a rockin’! Well it all went straight to my head. The quarterback’s girlfriend broke up with him to go steady with me. That lasted 2 weeks and fell apart over Christmas break.

Another time, very early in my career when I worked at GM SATURN, I had the opportunity to give a presentation to the President of SATURN, whose name was Skip LeFauve. I knew enough not to drink a caffeinated drink that morning but right before the presentation I drank a Sprite instead. The sugar rush kicked in and once again my hands were shaking like crazy as I spoke. Very embarrassing. What saved me was a clever idea. The topic of the presentation was a plan to get suppliers to cover warranty costs for any defective parts they shipped to SATURN. We called it Supplier Kwality (with a “K”) Incentive Program – or SKIP for short! We named it after the President Skip LeFauve and he had no choice but to give it a thumbs up!

Joining Toastmasters gives me opportunities to overcome shaky hands. My hands shake all the time but they definitely shake more when I do public speaking. I’ve learned caffeine, sugar, and alcohol give me the shakes – and sadly those are 3 of my favorite things. An empty stomach makes it worse. But I’ve found that eating protein settles me back down, so I make sure I eat protein before these lunchtime meetings.  I never hold a piece of paper when I speak – instead I hold the paper against a book or folder. Taking a drink of water during a speech is not a good idea. I might stay behind the podium too. I know that is frowned upon at Toastmasters but we should embrace neurodiversity. Nervous people are people too!  Yes my hands shake, that’s the way my excitement comes out. But I think my thinking is clear and my voice is OK. I sometimes wonder how other people’s judgement of my shaky hands has impacted me in job interviews, presentations, and in social settings.

I love to play guitar -- which doesn't pair well with shaky hands. They are not a problem when practicing alone at my house. But when I play in front of an audience I have to overcome it. I play in a hobby rock-n-roll band called the Hang Dog Daddies. We are a bunch of old guys who still like to rock. My hands shake for the first few songs so I try to stick with strumming chords rather than picking solos. In fact, my shaky hands realistically prevent me from ever becoming a lead guitarist, so I mostly stick to rhythm guitar. Our band has had the honor of playing at 4 Nashville Predators hockey games over the years. You may have seen the bands that play at intermissions. Well that’s in front of 15,000 people. Now most of them are getting their hotdogs and beer and are not really paying attention to the band. But still maybe a 1,000 people are actually watching and listening, so it takes courage! Especially that time the band talked me into singing Folsum Prison Blues by Johnny Cash right there at Bridgestone Arena, next to the Country Music Hall of Fame, across from Ryman Auditorium and Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge on Lower Broad. So I held onto the guitar neck with a strong grip, clamped my arm down on the body of the guitar, held on tight, and gave it my best. Despite my fears it went without a hitch.

So that’s what I do to overcome shaky hands. Everyone has different characteristics.  Some are advantages, some are disadvantages, and some are just differences. In the greater scheme of things, my shaky hands are a minor inconvenience compared to hardships other people face. The key is to do whatever it takes to overcome those hardships, to capitalize on your strengths, and to meet whatever challenges you face. So get up and sing your song or make that speech or volunteer for table topics. Whatever it is, just do it!