Since US Thanksgiving is tomorrow, I wonder how many of us are really thankful that we get to give a presentation?
As one of our biggest fears, public speaking can be seen as a chore – something you HAVE to do. For whatever reason, we have to muster up the gumption to stand in front of people we admire, work for, or don’t even know.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
It was three or four months before I became President of the National Speakers Association – where all forty chapters expect the President to travel to their town to present at a chapter meeting. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not like I didn’t want to go, but forty chapters is an awful lot in a year while I still needed to hold down the business. Whenever I would share the news of my presidency with others, I was using the words, “I have to go to these chapter presentations.” Subliminaly, I wasn’t being particularly thankful for this opportunity.
A motivational speaker (and I can’t remember who it was-sorry!) completely reframed this magnificent opportunity for me. He said something like: Often times in life, we can approach things one of two ways: We have to do something or we get to do something. A simple switch of words completely reframed my perspective.
I get to present at forty chapters this year. I get to be President of the National Speakers Association. I get to have turkey with my family tomorrow. Sure beats having to do something.
What are you thankful for – what do you get to do?
