A case of stage fright
I saw a colleague of mind wondering around the office, sweating and mumbling incoherently. His tie was untied and he was looking like he hadn’t shaved that morning or even slept for a couple of days. I thought to myself “Ut oh, executive burnout.” Being that we had worked together for a few years, I regarded him as a friend. Fearing the worst, I put my hand around his shoulder and asked if there was something wrong and could I help. He turned to me with tears brimming in his eyes; he confessed that he had been asked to make a presentation at a sales conference in Wichita and had no idea where to begin. I thought to myself “Ut oh, presentation panic.” I said to him in a firm strong voice “Jim, I can help you.”
We went to my office sat together as he poured out his heart on how he had suffered from stage fright all his life, and how he couldn’t cope with the thought of standing before this audience of potential customers. “What if I fail,” he said, “I will be letting everyone down.” My reply was “Jim, there is no reason for you to fail, Today, making presentations have never been easier, and you have all the multimedia tools to help you in moments of uncertainty.” To cut a long story short, we worked together through the night and succeeded in putting together a presentation that did Jim and the company proud. We practiced every stage of the presentation until Jim and the presentation were as one. Needless to say the presentation and the presenter were an outstanding success. Jim’s rise to success in the company since then has been astronomic. Lucky for me, Jim is the kind of guy to remember his friends. When we had this late night chat I was the janitor. Jim saw a way to use my talents and now I’m on the companies training team.
