Words that change the world

My relationship with speaking is a funny one.

In my former career I was up on my feet, presenting to groups every single week.

I was articulate and I knew what I was talking about so I was pretty good at it.

But the emotional aspect of it was quite different.

I was in a perpetual state of anxiety, worrying about the next time I would have to stand up and speak, and I found it completely exhausting.

But I wasn’t giving up that easily and so I pushed through.

I spoke in board meetings, at sales conferences and led pitch presentations inside some of the biggest companies on the planet.

I hated it but I did my reps.

Then one day I had a panic attack in a meeting I was running.

It was a deeply uncomfortable and embarrassing moment and it was the catalyst for huge change.

It was this experience that had me finally acknowledge to myself that I was not ok and that I needed to sort it out.

This had me venture into the world of personal development, with the intention of understanding my own experience so I could stop being so fearful all the time.

This journey is still continuing more than 13 years later.

In that time I have completely changed my life on every level imaginable and I can trace it all back to that horrible moment.

In the intervening years I’ve spoken at conferences, festivals and inside organisations.

My proudest moment on stage was when I pitched my first business to investors in a live Dragon’s Den style environment with 500 people in the audience.

I made a commitment to myself some years ago that my words will change the world.

And I know that every time even a single person in the audience is impacted by my words, the ripple of change goes out.

The thing that used to scare me the most has become one of the things I love the most about what I do.

And one of the ways I choose to create positive change.