Okay, so you are sitting there, waiting for the moment of all moments when you are about to speak in front of a large group you have never met before! What is going through your mind? My hunch is that you are feeling:

• Anxiety (why in the heck did I agree to this?)
• Fast heartbeat (why is my shirt moving?)
• Sweaty palms (I hope no one shakes my hand right now!)
• Dry mouth (can I get a little saliva here...just a little?)
• Stomach jitters (where are my Rolaids???)
• Racing mind and thoughts (What if...what if....#$@@!@#)
• Worry (can they see my sweat stains?

Well my friends, that was me, just a week ago as I was preparing to compete in my first Toastmasters speech contest. Now, I consider myself to be a good speaker already and knew this competition was just the first of many that I may win, but will learn from. So, what do I have to lose right? Actually, to be honest, I didn't even want to win the Humorous Speech contest since I really didn't think my speech was that funny. I should say that I was also competiting in an Evaluation Contest as well which I thought I had a shot at.

So, I'm sitting in the green room waiting to give my speech in front of about 100 people and I get the nod to approach the stage. I saunter into the room, confident, shoulders straight, and I'm feeling good - until I open my mouth. Nervousness sets in and I realize I have to give this evaluation for at least two minutes, but not more than three. I'm about one minute into it (pulse is racing) and I have said all I had to say! So what do I do? I started repeating myself! NOOOOO don't be the "repeater guy"! I tried saying what I already said, but differently and it worked as I won that contest!

I should tell you that you really can't prepare for an evaluation contest since you don't know what speech you will be evaluating until they give it. So, I should be feeling confident at this point since I spent many weeks prior practicing my humorous speech right? WRONG - was not the case at all. Now I'm REALLY nervous from the evaluation presentation and that I'm normally not nervous is making me MORE nervous. The thoughts start racing through my brain "Do I have enough material?" "Is my speech as funny as the other contestants?" "Am I actually going to blow it in front of my wife and fellow Toastmasters?" I was experiencing everything you read above and more.

I'm sure you are thinking by now "Man - I would have ran out of that room so fast papers would have been flying in my dust!" Yeah, I thought about that, but then it occurred to me why I was there in the first place. I asked myself "Self - what is the worst thing that could happen?" to which I replied, "I won't win the contest" "I won't be funny" "I won't have enough material." Then, I remember, I didn't want to win the contest anyway - my goal was to get experience talking in front of people and to learn from it. That is why we attend Toastmasters in the first place. My dream is to become the best motivational speaker I can and to do that I need and will make mistakes along my journey. Friends, this is where true growth happens and often we are so afraid to put ourselves out there and experience it. As a result, we fail to expand our horizons and don't realize our true dreams in life. Answer this question for me: what would you do if you knew you wouldn't fail? Now, starting right now (well finish the article first), take small steps to achieving those goals.

Back to our story: sitting in that chair I reminded myself that I have practiced, I have done it before, and people did laugh at it. At that point I was determined to give it my best shot and to just be myself. I walked up on stage and gave what I thought was a damm funny speech. Well, I came in 2nd place out of eight contestants which I think is great and I'm really proud of myself. I have to share with you that I was SOOO relieved when I got to sit back down. The energy I wasted being worried for the six minutes I was up there wasn't even worth it. But, sometimes this nervous energy adds fuel to the fire if we harness it and not let it control us.

Do you get the idea now of what it takes to overcome your fears? It takes the following:

• Attitude
• Courage
• Determination
• Vision/Focus
• Education (learn as much about what your ultimate goal is)
• Acceptance
• Practice Practice and more PRACTICE!

Fear stands for False Expectations Appearing Real and statistics show that about 97% of our fears are never realized!

Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday - was it worth it?

For help on conquering your fears, please email me at mastermotivators@charter.net or call me at 714-308-6765 and I'd be happy to help YOU overcome your fears!

Until next week...