Bravina – You Gotta Be Kidding Me!
Last night, my brother and I were relaxing at home. I was in my room at my computer desk. Suddenly, from the hallway he asked, “Hey Dion, you got a minute?” I turned around and said, “Sure.” As he walked into my room he said, “You’ve got to check this out!” With a magazine in his hand already opened to the page he wanted to show me, he pointed down to an advertisement for a new pill called Bravina. I said…
“You gotta be kidding me!”
He said, “Nope, it’s a public speaking pill for people that have trouble speaking in public.”
……
The purpose of Bravina is to get rid of the anxiety many experience while public speaking. It facilitates relaxation and concentration. After all, some people are so nervous about speaking in public that they never actually do it or, when they do speak, they experience symptoms of discomfort. We all have experienced this to some degree – the quiver in the voice, the increased heart rate and shortness of breath. I’m sure there are many of us out there willing to take this pill.
The name Bravina is clever, embodying the word brave as a root word. This clever name markets the pill as the “bravery” pill as if Bravina will give us the chutzpah we need to get up and speak.
But let’s be serious.
Bravery does not come in a pill.
Something for Nothing
It’s a shame that the things we used to be encouraged to work toward – such as the bravery to speak in public – are being denigrated to pills. Bravina is a reflection of our tendency to desire something for nothing.
Trust me, I can relate to being nervous about speaking in public. I still get the jitters before I get ready to speak in public. My voice quivers, my heart and breathing rates increase, and my knees shake! And, take a wild guess at how I improve my public speaking skills?
Tic…Toc…Tic…Toc…
Ding, ding! That’s correct! I take the opportunity to speak in public whenever I get the chance. I speak up more and give my opinion more during my daily conversations. I work on the clarity of my voice and volume when I speak. I watch great public speakers and model their tendencies. I certainly did not, do not, and will not take a pill to empower myself to speak in public.
How come?
Because I know that bravery does not come in a pill.
What would happen if we took this pill? I’ll tell you exactly what will happen. We’d develop enough confidence to deliver a speech as great as the Gettysburg Address and one hour later we won’t even have the confidence to talk on the phone! Although we’d look great speaking on stage under the influence of Bravina as soon as the pill wears off we’d be back to our nervous and anxious selves again, running underneath the nearest table when it’s time to speak. Our public speaking skills will not have gotten any better.
Instead of swallowing Bravina, the biggest pill that we need to swallow is that it takes time to develop the habits and skills necessary to be good. Developing our public speaking will enable us to pick up other skills. These include:
- Courage
- Time management
- Perseverance
- Diligence
- Patience
- Overcoming nervousness
Each of these is skills needed to accomplish anything we do in life. We can’t swallow a pill for these skills. We don’t get bravery by taking Bravina. We get bravery by taking action and working toward a definite objective!
Bravery doesn’t come in pills. Developing our public speaking may not be as convenient as swallowing Bravina but it pays off indefinitely. Unlike taking a pill, it’ll take more time, some aggravation, and maybe even a queasy stomach. But guess what?…
It’s worth it.
This is what our society has come to and it really disturbs me.
Chances are this Bravina doesn’t even help your public speaking, you waste your money on something that would make the physical attributes of nervousness go away, but that doesn’t give you an articulate well thought out speech, or help you project your voice, etc.
Anyway, what bothers me is in America today no one wants to work. Everyone wants a magic pill. The Bravery Pill, the Diet Pill, the Six pack abs pill, the money pill, the knowledge pill. When will Americans wake up and realize that you have to WORK for these things. Change takes work(YES WE CAN!), and anything worth having takes work.
America has lost its identity as a country of hard working citizens. Instead we sit on the sidelines and wait for our cure to be developed by someone else now. Many Americans are uneducated and unaware of surroundings that impact them everyday!
I’ll stop ranting now.
Hutch,
Great commentary!!
Wow! I’ve got nothing to add to that. Feel free to continue ranting!
yea… your response fills in any gaps! haha, i definitely agree with you Hutch. there are so many product examples of the “something for nothing” mental trap we often fall victim to. just like you said, W…O…R…K… that does not spell magic pill.
Rant, you have…atop your ivory tower as if the divine opinion of Dion can and should define the experiences of all of Gods people. Give me a break! You obviously have never heard of clinical social phobia. This is a most severe form of chronic fear and cannot just be sucked up, as you in your heroic toughness have pontificated. Some people are different, sir. Someone who has suffered a severe emotional trauma and has public speaking as a symptom may indeed need pharmaceuticals…at least temporarily, while they learn new habits, along with Cognitive Therapy.
Please don’t think the world conforms to your own experiences…be compassionate and have a little humility, as your cold words hurt.
Jason,
First of all, thanks for the post! You saw things a bit differently and it’s great to see a variety of opinions. Your concerns are valid. Fear elicits real, and potentialy significant, physical reactions. And a person’s fear may be the symptom of a trauma that occurred at some earlier point in their life. However, is it is also valid that the use of medications, pills, and ‘quick fixes’ are higher than ever today. Still, are we any better as a result? Instead of making the proper lifestyle changes many people too often resort to short cuts. Sadly though, many of these “short cuts” aren’t really short cuts at all; but lead to a much longer and arduous path to get people to their goal. In the case of Bravina, if a person truly has a severe aversion to public speaking (symptom) as a result of some emotional trauma (cause), will taking Bravina actually rid that person’s emotional trauma? Absolutely not. Bravina’s goal is not to uproot the cause of people’s public speaking woes; its goal is to mask the symptoms. Otherwise, you’d take one pill and you wouldn’t need to buy Bravina anymore. Bravina is a convenient quick fix for people who need convenient quick fixes; nothing more.
My theory is that Bravina, if it DOES work, would be the little boost one may need to get used to speaking in public, until they’re used to it and they can start ‘cutting down’ their dose. The equivalent of a nicotine patch. What are your thoughts on this?
Marc,
Great point about users cutting down their Bravina doses as they give more and more speeches/presentations. I think it would be difficult for someone to pinpoint the source of their decrease in anxiety: is it (1) Bravina or (2) the incease in speeches/presentations? Naturally, the inclination would be to continue the program that led to your decrease in anxiety: that program being (1) taking Bravina AND(2) continually giving speeches/presentations. So I doubt most people would quit Bravina if they felt it was a major source of their success. After going through Bravina’s site, I couldn’t find where they showed any desire for people to discard their product after gaining more practice. Don’t get me wrong, they do give advice for reducing anxiety outside of using Bravina. But that is more of a good gesture than an effort to undermine Bravina use. So I don’t think the intent is to have it used as a nicotine patch would be used.