Speaking of Sustainable Building Practices….

Are you completely calm when you stand up and speak in public? If so, you’re one of extremely few Homo sapiens who has somehow escaped the plague that affects the rest of us. 

I will be the emcee at a meeting tomorrow night, introducing a speaker on the subject of sustainable building products and methods.  My personal techniques for dealing with nerves include practicing the whole thing several times before going on stage.

I’m reminded that Winston Churchill, known for his talks that seemed completely spontaneous and off-the-cuff, would practice an hour for each minute of the speech; i.e., he’d spend 30 hours preparing for a half-hour talk.   My take-away: if public speaking didn’t come easily for Churchill, perhaps we mortals shouldn’t feel so bad if we’re a bit jittery.