The Feeling Follows the Doing
The Feeling Follows the Doing
I walked onto a stage in Dallas looking like I had everything together.
The event was called North America’s Next Greatest Speaker. Ten finalists. Three minutes each. The top three would move on to the finals.
I had the outfit. The hair. Two coaches. Hours of TED Talks trying to reverse-engineer someone else’s magic until I’d completely lost track of my own.
I was ninth to go on, which meant nearly an hour backstage watching other speakers do the one thing I couldn’t seem to do.
Sound like themselves.
When Preparation Becomes a Disguise
One woman stood out. Sassy, fast, irreverent. She broke every professional speaking rule I’d been taught. The audience adored her, not because she was polished. Because she was present.
Standing backstage, I knew.
I had gone about this completely wrong.