Maybe you imagine yourself standing before an audience with your heart pounding, your palms sweaty and your mind that's suddenly gone blank. For many people, imagining the worst stops them from sharing their important message.  Public speaking becomes a hurdle that’s too hard to clear. But what if we could shift our perspective on those anxieties, just like the people in the following story shifted their perspective on a simple stick?

Imagine this: A traveler arrives at a clearing and uses a stick to tether her horse. She sees the stick as a solution to her immediate need. The next person sees the same stick as a hazard. Then, a boater uses it to moor their boat. A fisherman uses it as a seat. Finally, a woodsman sees it as firewood. The stick remains the same, but its purpose, its meaning, changes depending on the perspective of the person encountering it.

Our anxieties about public speaking are a lot like that stick. We see them as obstacles, as threats to our success. We think, "What if I mess up? What if I forget my lines? What if the audience judges me?" These "what ifs" become the sharp point of the stick; a potential danger we fear tripping over.

But what if we chose a different perspective? What if, instead of seeing our nerves as a sign of impending doom, we saw them as energy, ready to be channeled into our performance? What if we saw the challenge of public speaking not as a threat, but as an opportunity to connect with an audience, to share our ideas, to make a difference?

The fisherman didn't see the stick as a problem; he saw it as a tool. He reframed its purpose to meet his need. We can do the same with our anxieties. We can reframe our fear as excitement, our nervousness as focus, our self-doubt as an opportunity for growth.

Just like the woodsman who saw the stick as fuel for his fire, we can use our anxieties to fuel our passion, to ignite our enthusiasm, to make our presentations more engaging and dynamic.

The key is to remember that our perspective is a choice. We can choose to see the stick as a stumbling block, or we can choose to see it as a tool, a resource, a steppingstone. We can choose to let our anxieties paralyze us, or we can choose to harness them, to use them to our advantage.

So, the next time you feel your heart racing before a presentation, remember the story of the stick. Ask yourself: How can I reframe this anxiety? How can I choose a perspective that empowers me, rather than defeats me? You might be surprised at the difference it makes.

What's one thing you can reframe about your public speaking anxieties? I'd love to hear your thoughts!