Previously on my podcast Episode 3, I talked about how my sore throat became a physiological noise in my verbal communication with others, because my cracked voice made the pronunciation blurry and it is challenging for people to understand some words I say, thus disrupting the communication flow. I have no control over my sore throat, but I can use non-verbal system of communication using writing that can help the communication flow between me and my listeners. I did put the podcast text in the description.

My verbal communication could be worse, I have been through far worse physiological noise in my speech such as stuttering and anxiety. And in one occasion, I collapsed and passed out before my oral presentation because of my health condition at the time. During the presentation, I stuttered a lot and was lack of confidence. My lecturer wasn't impressed at all. I really hope that nobody else has to suffer the same situation and the communication noise like I did.

On another occasion, one big oral presentation, I have been prepared to avoid fuss and I've been practicing alone a week prior. When the day comes, I couldn't pull through, my thoughts wasn't in line with my words. I was hyperventilating and sweating uncontrollably. As the kids say, my last two brain cells were not connected. I was freaking out and failed the presentation, which I have to repeat. It was a painful memory of how little control I had over my own body.

One day when I need to present via Google meet, I have been preparing for a week prior too. I haven't sleep well in 24 hours, I drink maybe seven to eight cups of premix coffee because I believe in coffee health benefits, and it's containing neurotransmitter that help people to stay awake, alert, and think faster. I thought it will help me nailing this presentation. Boy was I dead wrong. When it's my turn to present, the history repeats itself. Right when I see other people in the meeting room, I mean they are all communication experts and scholars, I can't feel my body hips down. This time I was totally nervous and started to forget the points for the presentation. My feet feels like ice. My body trembled as I struggle to utter one word after the other. I can't feel a bone in my fingers. Again, I failed the presentation and had to repeat it. Hearing that, I collapsed for a few hours before getting my strength back.

In the second attempt few days later however, I managed to nail the presentation, be very calm and minimum stutter, I didn't feel cold and numb hips down, I can feel all my fingers, and I feel great getting my messages delivered to the smart people in my audience. It was a wonderful feeling. I think it's helpful that I drank a cup of coffee only once that day four hours before presentation. I only focus on delivering meaningful messages. I wanted to respect my audience's time they allocated to be with me, I wanted that communication to be as effective and efficient as it can be.

One life-changing lesson I can learn from that particular presentation is, I didn't rely on heavy consumption of coffee to stay alert. Normally I would drink lots of coffee because I like the taste and I hope it helps my brain cells stay connected. Turns out, I can still be effortlessly alert without coffee. I also learned that the safe level of coffee consumption for adults is no more than four cups a day[1]. What have I done with seven cups of premix coffee all this time? Let alone the amount of refined sugar, additives, and other stimulants in the drink. I was in the state of ignorance, abusing premix coffee, albeit not illegal, and it could cost me my future one communication at a time.

Public service announcement here, take everything in moderation. The recommendation for caffeine is no more than 400 milligram per day, that is not more than four cups of regular coffee[2]. Again, take everything in moderation.


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[1] J. Liu, X. Sui, C.J. Lavie, J. R. Hebert, C. P. Earnest, J. Zhang, S. N. Blair. 2013. Association of Coffee Consumption With All-Cause and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality. Mayo Clinic Proceedings,
Volume 88 (10), p. 1066-1074,
ISSN 0025-6196,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2013.06.020.
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025619613005788)

[2] H. C. Vogel. 2020. High-Dose Insulin Euglycemic Therapy in the Treatment of a Massive Caffeine Overdose. Chest. 157(5):e145-e149. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2019.11.030. PMID: 32386647.