The THEME was Body Beautiful, which is right up my alley with all the work I do with body image and self-esteem in Myselfie. The CATCH was that I had to prepare a 4-6 minute piece! What the wha?!?!? For anyone who’s ever tried to make a long story short, you’ll understand how incredibly challenging this was! I chose one story from Myselfie, the one about my heart murmur that leads up to my hit song My Innards. The HITCH was that I realized I like to cap off a story with my music. What do you mean I gotta end on the un-accompanied word? But when will I dance?!?!

4-6 minute piece just talking. Okay. I put myself on a mission to hone it in. That is something I’m often told to do in commercial auditions too: “Kat, can ya please hoooone it in?! Take it down a notch! Be more regular everyday.” But THIS IS my regular everyday! These facial expressions ARE subdued! And if less truly is more, then just imagine how much more more is! Maybe casting directors used to say that to Will Ferrell too.

So I crafted a story for Speaker Slam called The Responsible Casualty— which is really kinda what the story became, a  casualty of the process. I didn’t craft a story. I hacked away at an existing story in order to hone it in and take it down a notch and fit into a 4-6 minute piece for a Speaker Slam competition. My modus operandi was to keep it under 6 minutes. I lost sight of what “it” should be and focussed with the piercing eye of a hearty maritime fog. If I had it to do over again, I would honour the challenge and theme of Body Beautiful to create something brand new and with respectful intention for this event specifically.

I had so much fun at the event and I shared the stage with some pretty powerful speakers that I now consider friends. I was disqualified from the competition because I went over time. I know you’re shocked. You can watch my 6:15 minute long The Responsible Casualty video here!

And here are my new friends!

What will you do this month to challenge yourself?