Public Speaking Really Isn’t Worse Than Death
I’ve had the privilege of delivering over a thousand speeches world-wide over the last eight years. I’ve addressed rocket scientists to high school students. One thing I’ve learned is nervousness and excitement are the identical thing. Let me explain.
Way back in high school I gave a clumsy speech that had everyone laughing loud and long at me. I vowed to never put myself in that humiliating position again. It was 17 years later when I was so racked with nerves over my ineptness at public speaking that I decided I had to do something about it. I joined a Toastmasters Club. (They help people get rid of their fear of public speaking. Check them out at Toastmasters.org.)
I trembled through my first Toastmasters speech. I’ll always remember John Weeks came up to me and said, “Doug, you seem nervous. You don’t have to be. The audience really wants to see you succeed.” I said, “John, that has not been my experience.” He told me to trust the audience and to rename my nervousness “Energy and Excitement.”
It took a lot of positive affirmations to internalize his words as truth. But to squish a long story into a minute, let me just say that when I feel the jitters now I say a prayer of thanks for the energy, excitement and opportunity.
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