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We've added a **FREE REPORT**!!

Go to www.marionclaire.com and on the Home page, you will find a link to download a valuable speaking tool:

5 MAGIC KEYS TO CREATING ANY SPEECH!

Knowing the answers to these Five Questions will enable you to create a fabulous speech for almost any occasion.  Download your Free Report now and make creating your next speech so much easier! 

Have you ever had The Dream?  You know the one.  It comes in the night when you have to give a speech tomorrow or a week from tomorrow, but you really, really don't want to. 

There you are, standing alone in front of the crowd, afraid to say a word because you know you're going to mess it up. You feel exposed, vulnerable.  There's nothing between you and them to protect you, no invisible shield, no barrier to prevent them from hitting you with a barrage of disapproval, at the least a chorus of boos, at the worst an avalanche of tomatoes.

Yuck!

You freeze.  You open your mouth, but no sound comes out.  You're facing the enemy without a weapon and you're trapped.  There's no place to run, no place to hide.  You're stuck, figuratively naked, insecure and terrified, while the audience grimaces and growls, pointing hostile, accusing fingers at you.  They're ready to attack!  Desperate, you look around frantically.  No one is coming to rescue you.  You're at their mercy.  They're about to rise up en masse, throw themselves on you and devour you!  How can you save yourself?  You've turned to stone.  They're coming!  They're almost on you!  You can't move!  What can you do?

You wake up!

You're shaking, shivering, sick to your stomach, and you know you can't do it.  You just can't make that speech.  Who would voluntarily put themselves in that position?  You're not insane.  No, it's absolutely out of the question.  The speech is off.

But of course, it isn't.  You really do have to do it.  You've committed yourself, your job or your reputation depends on it, you can't chicken out every time you're asked to show how much you know.  You do have something to say.  Actually, you have a lot to say that the audience wants to hear or they wouldn't have asked you to speak in the first place.  You are the right person, in the right place, at the right time.  So why the terrible dream?

The truth is that when you stand in front of an audience, you are in control.  You have the power.  Whatever happens while you are speaking, you are in charge.  Wherever you are standing, that place is the power spot of the room.  As long as you're the speaker, you occupy the power spot.  The audience is looking to you for guidance and leadership.  They have willingly given you the power to be in control for the next 20, 30 or 45 minutes, however long you've been asked to speak.  They want to follow you.  They want to learn from you.  Their whole reason for being there is because you have something valuable to tell them and they want to hear it.  

A little bit of pre-speech jitters is normal.  Most speakers, from the neophyte to the most seasoned, from time to time feel the butterflies fluttering around inside, crashing into each other.  That's the adrenaline we need to be on our toes.  It gives the extra boost of energy that enables us to be compelling and enthusiastic.  Like bees to honey, the audience is attracted to our energy and our enthusiasm.

You are in charge.  Not them.  They are not your enemy.  Rather, they're your students and you're their teacher.  You have the power to fill their minds and hearts with information they didn't have when they walked into the room.  Rather than be angry with you, they're grateful.  They're delighted.  They're hungry for your knowledge, and you're feeding them. 

You are in control.  You have the power.  They'll follow wherever you lead.  Isn't that a great feeling?   

Hold onto that power.  Enjoy it.  You deserve it.

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