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            "Great!" I said immediately.  "Who's it for?  What's it about?  Is this the first time they've invited you or have you ever spoken to them before?  When is it, what time of day?  How big is your audience?"

            "Whoa!" My friend literally put up her hand to stop my avalanche of questions.  "I haven't decided if I'm going to do it yet."

            "Why not?" I asked.

            She hesitated.  "I know you're going to think this is silly, but just the thought of doing it is already keeping me awake every night worrying, and I don't know if I want to go through that.  I really need my sleep."

            It always amazes me when people who demonstrate carloads of confidence in their everyday life, like my friend, tell me that the idea of making a speech gives them nightmares.  

            Carla (not her real name) has a solid marriage, a couple of grandkids she adores, and has run her own design business very successfully for several years.  She's no stranger to the pressures of deadlines, catering to clients, networking and marketing her business, yet when it comes to making a speech, she suddenly turns into a tired, unhappy wimp with bags under her eyes. 

            So I asked the obvious question.  "What are you worried about?"  I've heard her speak before.  She's very good at it.

            "I always think that this time I'll fail.  I won't get it right.  They won't like what I have to say.  I'll sound like a complete idiot."

            "Has that ever actually happened?" I asked gently.

            "No," she admitted.  "But someday it will.  I just know it."

It's not logical, but it's astonishing how many professionals, particularly the ones whose work requires a certain amount of getting up and facing an audience, suffer from a kind of stagefright that makes them fear that, even though they did well last time, they just might not be able to pull it off next time.  Actors certainly are prone to it.  So are professional speakers, company executives, fundraising experts, politicians (hard to believe, but true) and many others.  Even people who've done a lot of speaking to groups feel that uncertainty every so often, especially if they're trying out a new speech or speaking to a new group for the first time.  It's a purely emotional reaction that has nothing to do with experience, competence or even the extensive preparation time they put in to avoid just this eventuality. 

What can be done about it?

Give yourself a break.  You're probably a lot more capable than you think you are.        

Take a chance.  Remember, having done well in the past, the odds are that you'll be quite able to do just as well again, if not better. 

Henry David Thoreau said:  "We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal and then leap in the dark to our success."  When he went to live alone at Walden Pond, he couldn't know exactly what he'd find or what would happen to him that might change him forever.  He went consciously as far as he could, he made the move, and for the rest, he trusted that the leap into the dark would bring him the success he sought.

            Give yourself that chance.  Say 'yes' to giving the speech.  You'll be pleasantly surprised at the great success that awaits you when you take that leap of faith in yourself.

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