BY MONICA WOFFORD
Sarah walked into the hotel after
an already challenging morning.
She had changed her outfit a cou-
ple of times, noticed a few new
wrinkles and—as had become the
usual routine—failed to prepare her presentation as
much as she thought she needed to. She had been on
the road for two weeks and was having trouble relat-
ing to her teenage children. Sarah’s husband com-
plained to her the night before that he doesn’t see her
very much anymore, and there was guilt and a few
expectations attached to his words.
However, in spite of all this, she had a job to do. Her
internal cheerleader was trying to pump her up, give her
encouragement and convince her that when she gave her
speech, she would create a meeting of the minds between
herself and her audience. Yet when it was literally “all said
and done,” anyone in her audience who had seen her speak
before noticed there was something different this time.
The problem was not what Sarah said in her presenta-
tion; it was what she said to herself before and during it.
She expected to have a “meeting of the minds” with her
audience, yet the meeting in her own mind failed to
come to agreement first. Her internal optimistic
cheerleader failed to convince her (and those
other nagging voices) that she was ready
to deliver a powerful program.
We’ve all had those days. Intellec-
tually we know we can’t change or
control the circumstances of the
day, but shouldn’t we be able to
control those voices in our head,
manage what they say and do,
both to and for us? Especially
on stage?
You can. But it takes more
than a simple affirmation. It
takes work. Not back-breaking
work…just a little mind-bending
effort and practice.
