Unexpectations

You’re in a room filled with some people you know, some people you don’t.

Suddenly, there’s a bit of? silence.

You know this scene.

You don’t know how it got here, or how this always happens, but then, someone says.

?????? “Why don’t you tell us about that thing you’re working on?”

You think:

“This is easy, I mean, I’ve been focused on this thing for months. Years. All I have to do is speak.”

Then, the silence returns. Frog, cat and poodle in your throat!

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Last Week,

I celebrated the occasion of finishing the first dozen events of Your Words Have Power.

It was also my 100th LinkedIn post. I titled it Resounding.

The thing that was resounding was not me, but you.

I thought about all the feedback you have given me and the speakers in our community.

I thought about all the courage I had seen, in my professional life, of those who’ve gone beyond the wildest expectations and through their worst anxieties.

Truly phenomenal, really, being able to do what I do.?

Teaching people to fish.

Then, making them realise it was all within them to begin with.

I confess.

I am a little sentimental, but it’s hard not to be so. Seeing that transformation.

Hearing your voices go from timid, and hesitant, to confident and resounding.

It’s, in a way, making me feel like we are being heard.

I feel this tiny movement is changing.

“It feels strange, doesn’t it?”

Yes, it does. Four words, one message “Your Words Have Power”.

This little thing I’ve been doing is becoming something formidable.

Something loud.

“How can I empower someone to speak today?”

?

Why does this have to happen to me right now?

That’s something that we think about all the time.

It’s true!

Your Words Have Power, and some of that magic is innate.

I’d argue, some of that power comes from your diaphragm.

That’s why, in the moment, the unexpected hits you, and you freeze up.

No matter how much you have prepared to stand up and say your piece, if you don’t test it out and rehearse, you’ll end up sounding like this:

“Um, well, so, I-I…”

I am not prepared.

I realised this when one of my speakers brought this up to me. It happens.

There are situations in which we know something might happen to us, but because it might happen at any moment, we tend to think:

“If I don’t know how or when it will happen, then how do I even begin to prepare for it?”

I like to ask my speakers this question:

“How would you prepare for that unexpected moment where you are called on to speak?

Most of them either say something along the lines of knowing your material well, always feeling confident, or having a few phrases in your pocket to steer the conversation away.

Now, this seems like it is useful, but here at Your Words Have Power, we’re not interested in small talk.

The interesting thing is that, at some point down the line, speakers who I have worked with will suggest, jokingly, just practicing in front of a mirror.

Just like singing in the shower or acting out scenarios in which you confront someone at work that’s been bothering you.

You know, that thing we’ve done since we were children.

?

That’s how.

Keep your eyes on this space, where in the next few weeks, I will be showing you how you can and MUST prepare for the unexpected.

I will be talking about Olympic Archery, Stand Up Comedy, Visualisation, and how to really get on your friends’ nerves (only partially joking about that last one).

Stay tuned and remember,

Your Words Have Power.