Henna Pryor

Our face might feel hot.

The illusion of transparency is that we believe everyone can see all of that.

Everyone is looking at us going, look at how nervous John is.

He is losing his mind right now.

That is an illusion.

Most people can't see through us.

To that level of intensity, again, not the outliers who are bright red and sweating and need to work on some physiological techniques, but the majority of us who are just feeling nervous, feeling anxious, people are not looking at us with that level of intensity.

We are not as transparent in all of that.

And when we know that, we can relax a little bit.

Their opinion is not what we think it is in that moment.

I went through an intense public speaking training when I decided to become a professional speaker.

And I knew that there were certain things that I was mindful of.

Right.

So I was told pretty early on, don't you know,

erratically pace the stage unless you have a reason to do because it can be distracting, right?

If you want to appear confident, either stay centered and grounded or move with intention, right?

You can walk a little, but pacing makes you look nervous.

So there were certain things I was aware of.

Here's what I wasn't aware of.

I was trying so hard not to pace and I was taught, try to keep your feet hip width and try to deliver the message while being still.