When it comes to speech making, I’ve seen some of the toughest people in business turn into vulnerable heaps of quivering jelly. While it’s tempting to prod them to see just how much they wobble, it’s been my job to nourish them with constructive feedback and guidance so they can walk confidently on stage and grab their audience by the proverbials.

So, you’d think that when I’m asked to speak publicly it would be easy, right?

Ah, nope.

I confess, there have been times when I have stepped up to the mic and been caught off-guard by an unexpected dose of the public speaking jitters.

NERVES! WTF? I’m not supposed to get nervous! I’ve done television, I’ve done board presentations, I’ve even done musicals (yes, school musicals do count…even if they were in the 80s).

Alas, I must confess to some classic schoolgirl errors, thanks to nerves…like:

• The time I was so terrified I put my head down and read my speech like the robot from Lost in Space.
• Or the time I forgot to breath, until I suddenly remembered my need for oxygen and gasped like I’d come up for air from a world record free-dive.
• Or the many times I’ve forgotten to wear a high-necked top and the audience didn’t listen to what I had to say because they were too mesmerized by the nervous rash moving up from my chest and taking over my face like an alien virus from a sci-fi movie.
• Or the time I forgot to click forward my slides – the slides I stayed up all night preparing.

But then when I do relax, I make other kinds of mistakes, like:

• The time I became so passionate about what I was saying I knocked the microphone over.
• Or the time I couldn’t answer the question I was asked because I was too busy wondering if I took the sausages out of the freezer for dinner.
• Or the times I cracked a joke only to be greeted by the sound of crickets.
• And the many times I’ve snorted hysterically at my own jokes…because, well, someone has to.

Yep, public speaking can be a treacherous affair…even for show-offs like me.