My junior year in college I was in the final round of impromptu speaking — the most terrifying of all speech events — at the national championships. I was competing against the 5 top speakers in the country in an auditorium containing a couple hundred onlookers, most of whom were national-level speakers themselves. I had developed a little trick, telling myself “If this was a drug, you’d like it.” The thing about adrenaline is it dissipates if you start really enjoying the rush.

Unfortunately, the a little voice inside my head had a reply. As I walked up onto the stage it said, “Yea, but you wouldn’t have taken it now.”

I took 5th.

P.S. In my opinion, a great speaker is not a speaker who doesn’t get nervous. It is a speaker who can convincingly pretend s/he isn’t nervous.

P.P.S. There is a happy ending — I won a national championship the following year. My hands were still bluer than shit, though.

I think there are two kinds of public speakers. There are the completely polished ones that almost sound like their whole presentation is packaged. They are good, and usually interesting, but you don’t feel like you are hearing anything personal.

Then there are the ones who sound like a real person on stage. They pause. They think. They may not come off as polished, but you feel like you heard the real person speaking. When Veronica Roth spoke at BEA, she definitely had a little nervousness going on. But her story was so powerful and personal, that you didn’t care.

That’s the way I’ve always felt listening to you. I like that you are prepared by don’t sound like you are reading off the back of a ceral box. It’s real. And people like real.

Breathe deeply and slowly. Inhale let your belly expand. Exhale and let your belly relax.

Personally, I do better if I don’t have a script, but have a good idea what I’ll need to say.

As a musician, I use to audition in front of judges for a chair with an orchestra. That was difficult for reason other than stage fright. For instance, I would have to sightread, play music I had never seen before, and I was competing against other musicians for those precious few spots. Performing in front of an audience was never a problem.

Speaking in front of people, however, was a totally different beast. The first time I read one of my poems in public, I was so nervous I truly thought I was going to faint, have a heart attack, or both. The funny thing was, my family and friends who were in the audience said that I didn’t look nervous at all. I don’t know if we were on the same planet, but my voice was quivering so badly, I thought someone was going to call 911.

The second time I read, wine was being served so I had a nice glass of wine before going on stage and wouldn’t you know it, I had no trouble getting up in front of people. Not only did I read my poetry, I talked a little about myself before I began.

After that, each time I got up to speak it got easier (no, not always with a glass of wine) and now I actually enjoy it. Practice, I think, is key.