Speak

According to The Book of Lists, speaking in public is the number-one fear people have. People fear speaking in public over death, heights and bugs. Jerry Seinfeld jokes that people would rather be in the coffin than deliver the eulogy. For some crazy reason, I managed to dodge the number-one fear people have, but I got stuck with all the others. I am afraid of planes, trains, boats, bridges, open water, elevators, self-park parking lots, amusement park rides, choking, and getting lost while driving just to name a few. The only time I am fear-free is when I am on a stage with a microphone in front of hundreds or thousands of people. I know, I am not normal. But I want to help you not be normal too because normal is so expected. Some of us will be asked to give keynotes, and some of us will not. But almost all of us us will have an opportunity to tell our story, speak at a meeting, interview with a potential employer, take a meeting with our boss, present to our team, give a toast at a loved one's celebration, maybe even give a TED talk, teach an exercise or yoga class, or just be on Facebook Live. Each opportunity requires us to have excellent speaking and storytelling skills. Speaking is like everything we do. It's practice. It's just like yoga, exercise, meditation, prayer, reading, knitting, and playing mahjong or golf. You can fill in the blank for whatever it is you enjoy and consistently work at to get better. The more we speak, the more skilled we are at speaking, and since I have been at this practice for thirty-five-years, I offer my stories, speaker tips, and life lessons to help you love your story too. When we love our story, we remove fear from speaking in public, we engage our audience more easily, we speak from our heart, and we leave a little room for the unexpected, which is always extra. So I invite you to speak! Speak up. Speak on stages. Speak your truth. Speak to your family. Speak to strangers. Speak kindly to yourself. Speak your story. Let go a little, and have fun when you speak. Don't be scared. Look forward to speaking. I want you to love speaking, no matter how big or small your stage is. It doesn't matter what the size of your audience is. It matters that an audience has gathered to listen to you. Repeat that to yourself again. It matters that an audience has gathered to listen to you. Reward your audience by being who you are. Share your story, and enjoy the moment.