DIANE ESTRELLA…. (peep peep)…. professional speaker.

Was it stupidity?

Naivety?

Lunacy?

What made me think that I was public speaker material?

Public. Speaking…. seriously??!?!?!

I’ll say it was a little bit all of the above, and a whole lot of God-guts. When He puts an idea in your head that you can do something, He will help you do it!

Steps to a successful public speaking career, as determined by me:

1. Do your homework and be as ready as you can be. I went into it feeling prepared, not polished, but prepared. Sometimes, that’s enough.
2. Right before you speak, the butterflies may start and your nerves kick in. As I thought about it in those nano-seconds before I got up there, I decided it was a last minute adrenaline rush, not to be confused with a possible upheaval of my stomach contents. The same thing happens right before a woman gives birth to get the job done. I sure felt like I delivered something, alright!
3. Be honest with your audience. Yes, even tell them that you have not publicly spoken in over 20 years and have no idea how this will all turn out. Hopefully, the crowd will be as gracious to you as mine was to me.
4. Pack an emergency shirt. Even though I did bring one along with me, I didn’t use it. I ran out of time to change and I decided it may look odd that I did a wardrobe switch-up. Yes, I am a sweat-er. I knew it going in, but opted for the keep your arms down approach. No dramatic gestures were allowed that my Italian-ness would want to include. For those of you that missed it, pit stains are included for your viewing pleasure below:
5. Basically, be yourself. Delight in and use the flavor of speaking that only you can bring. Trying to channel someone else will be unnatural and painful to keep up with. I figure if I’m gonna go down in flames, I might as well do it as me.

Have any of these things ever happened to you? Anything else you’d like to add to my list?