Just the other day, I watched an episode of Seinfeld where Jerry said, “According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.”
I also remember the time that chilling existential crisis crept in when somebody handed me a mic. It wasn’t my first rodeo, of course, but somehow having a mic in my hand and around a thousand people listening in made a real difference in how I felt about it. Thankfully, a seasoned interpreter from another church gave me a piece of sage advice to the effect of, “You are not performing for the people who speak both English and Mandarin. Your only audience today, are the people who must rely on you to get the message.”
It’s not about us: how well we perform or how others see us. When we let the spotlight roll off us and onto the actual mission and the people, we become un-mic-able. Of course, we can also make it easier by starting with some deep breaths, keeping a good posture, and focusing on the process instead of the result. Take comfort in the warm, loving, and forgiving setting of the House of God, which is frankly the best place to practice public speaking in the first place.
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