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Claire learns to speak out with confidence


IT might seem a stretch to make the move from working as a civil engineer in London during the recession of the 1980s to facilitating speaking circle sessions and mentoring as a life coach. But a series of life-changing events have led to such a transition for Claire Ní Grianna, who now lives in Glendree, Feakle.

Claire Ní Grianna runs speaking circle courses to help people overcome their fear of speaking in public. Photograph by Declan MonaghanClaire started off working in civil engineering, which led her to be involved in groundbreaking policies in terms of social housing initiatives in Dublin, including the masterplan for the regeneration of Ballymun.
“There were various twists and turns over the years in terms of my career and my personal life. I went back to college in my late 20s and did social studies, economics and politics. It married quite well with what I had being doing. Basically, through my work, I ended up talking to so many different people. Then I came to a stage where I was unwell for some time and I began to look at different aspects of my own life and where I was at,” Claire explained.
One particular day, she was sitting out at the back of her house and she had a profound spiritual experience, which changed her life. “I literally saw a flash of light in front of me and a overwhelming feeling of warmth coming over me,” she said. “From that moment on, I felt a huge sense of relief and a sense that I was being guided and minded like never before.
“From then on, my life began to change for the better. That moment became a central reference point for everything in my life. What led up to that moment was my life spiralling out of control. Everything on a superficial level being in place but there being no time for me or the things that were most important to me,” she added.
As part of her work over the years, she had to make many presentations and attend conferences.
“I would often find myself sitting around the table at meetings with real movers and shakers. I used to absolutely die a death every time I had to speak. I could feel what I wanted to say inside me wanting to come out but I just couldn’t do it. I would feel more or less ill, with a knot in my stomach,” Claire explained.
At one stage in her work, she had to go to a conference in Brussels and make a presentation to a large audience.
“I can remember standing up on stage and my head started going fuzzy. My knees started shaking and I began to feel very hot and I just knew that it all came out as goobledy-gook. I came off the podium and I said to myself that never again was I going to go through a similar experience,” Claire recalled.
She set out seeking help to overcome the issue, which she felt was holding her back. Soon after, she read an article about speaking circles and two weeks later, she went to London to attend a course.
“The speaking circle works through a series of steps where people can feel comfortable with themselves. So there are absolutely no tricks as such; it’s about being present in the moment. I learned that there is no point planning a speech in a pre-determined way because that does not allow for who is going to be in your audience. It has to allow for an involvement and a connection with one person in that audience or different individuals in your audience in the course of a speech,” Claire explained.
From that, she organised for the facilitator of the workshop in London to hold workshops in Dublin and she trained to lead speaking circles. She stayed working in the area of social housing with two other colleagues in Environment 2000, before she finally made the move to Clare to open Sacred Earth in Ennis and set about having her dream home built near Feakle.
After a few years, she moved on from the Sacred Earth project and worked in sales in Limerick. “I moved into my house in 2006 and once I was settled in at home, I felt it was time for me to do my own work again. So I can remember again being here one day thinking what was going to become of me, with no job, bills mounting up and all that,” she said.
Then, out of the blue, she received an email from the man who initiated the speaking circle idea, who wanted her to organise a speaking circle seminar in Clare. She organised a speaking circle seminar for him in October 2007 in Ennis. She then re-certified as a speaking circle facilitator. Soon after, she did a life coaching course and qualified as a life and business coach.
Claire’s latest speaking circle eight-week course starts this week in the Clare County Childcare Centre on the Kilrush Road in Ennis.
“Typically, there will be people on the first night and I can literally feel the tension from them. Everybody is there for the same reason and that’s because they have some degree of fear of speaking in public. To a large extent, the people who come to the courses are talented, energetic and competent but they are holding themselves back because they feel intimidated anytime they need to speak in public. It is amazing where people get to in an eight-week course. It is completely transforming,” she said.
Claire runs the speaking circle courses under the banner of her business, The True You. “I’m not about developing business but about developing people, enabling people to be themselves. One of the things I’ve realised is that because I’ve followed my dreams and have strived for things that were important to me at given times of my life, so many new opportunities have presented themselves to me. I think if someone holds back from being themselves, they will not inevitably get as much out of life,” Claire remarked.
For enquiries or booking, contact Claire on 087 9235552 or claire@thetrueyou.ie.

 

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