Henna Pryor

Well, John, apparently my nervous energy still needed some place to go.

So I remember my public speaking coach telling me, well, Hannah, now that you're not pacing, you are swaying.

Your feet are grounded, but you're doing this.

I'm moving back and forth for those who are listening.

I was swaying like a tree.

I didn't even notice that I was doing that until it was pointed out to me.

So this is part of, I think the takeaway of what you're describing is sometimes this work can be really reflective and done on your own.

Sometimes this work is really helpful to do with a partner, an accountability buddy who can help you bubble up some of the things that are your own personal tells or your opportunities.

I had no idea I was swaying until someone told me that now I'm

I get into habits where before I go give a talk where I might be a bit nervous, I perhaps do some jumping jacks or I work on taking some really deep breaths.

Or if I get a little bit nervous mid-session, here's a little secret.

If you ever see me do this, now you'll know what I'm doing.

My hands might go behind my back for a moment.

What you don't see is that I'm squeezing my fingers with all of my might to try to release some of the nervous energy that is built up in my body, but I'm doing it in a way that no one can see.

And so there's little techniques we can use to help release some of that energy so that we don't appear awkward.

We might feel it.

We might feel it.

But the goal is to not appear that way in certain settings.

Been there.

I love that story and it brings me to two thoughts.