Leaders, preachers, public speakers, no matter how skilled or experienced you may be, I urge you to treat every event as a unique event. Your presence will ultimately be the content of your message.
What you are heard to say is much more important than what you intend to say. When the stakes are high, people hear what they want to hear, and, when stakes are high, people are selectively deaf, blind, and mute. Filters become erratic when there is much to gain or lose.
Your anxiety will speak louder than your words, so before you take to the podium or pulpit, do whatever it takes to reduce your anxiety, or your audience may miss your message, and, anxiety being contagious, your audience may catch it too.
No matter who…
