This Blog's for You

This blog is for you if you have had an experience like the one I went through early in my career. 

I was standing at the back of a room, shaking, sick to my stomach, distracted with fear. What horrible thing was happening to me? My dream was coming true. 

You see I had been hired to perform one of my first professional magic shows and I was terrified. I knew my tricks, and I knew what I planned to say to my audience, but I was scared of them. I wanted to die, and I vowed that I would never try to become a paid entertainer again. Fortunately, I found a better solution. I powered through the show that night, then discovered the principles that allowed me to present successfully in spite of the nervous energy that creeps up on even the most experienced speakers. Learning these has enabled me to speak in front of hundreds of strangers, appear on camera, and lead seminars that last for days. I taugh these principles to hundreds of college students in public speaking classes.  I would like to share them with you here. 

This blog is for you if: 

• You are afraid to speak in front of people, or on camera, but you want to. 
• You don't have large reserves of time or money to spend on training. 
• You want tried-and-true methods that will help you speak confidently. 

Great candidates to follow this blog are: the "mompreneur" who wants to sell on-camera, or the would-be Bible study leader who gets the shakes when more than two people are listening in. 

In the upcoming weeks I will publish posts that will show you how to change the way you think about speaking situations, and change your approach to them. We will work through some of the homework you should do before you stand in front of a room, and show you how simple it can often be. Speaking should not be a burden, and preparing for a speech should not be drudgery. You will see why one of the sayings I will use is "Be bold. Be heard." Get started by following to keep up with the upcoming posts.