Public speaking with confidence

Bruce A. Cunningham

Facing up to my first impromptu speech at a public speaking club seemed like quite a challenge. When asked a question on any subject during a special portion of the meeting, the member is expected to get up and speak extemporaneously for two minutes. That whole week I prayed—but not out of fear. My prayer was an expression of gratitude for good ideas, and there were a lot of them.

I found that the more gratitude I felt, the more the ideas flowed. I did manage to do that first impromptu speech all right. It was exhilarating! Gradually I learned to look forward to giving impromptu speeches. More and more I learned to see them as opportunities. I actually started enjoying it!

For me, public speaking starts with God, infinite Mind, the source of all real ideas, communicating directly to man. To express Mind requires humility. You set aside personal ego and fear, and turn fully to God as the source of courage, intelligence, and ability. Obeying Christ Jesus' commandment "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Mark 12:31) means finding one's own in another's good. I often find that my best interests and the audience's coincide, since the same spiritual concepts are true for us all.

Feeling love for the audience enables you to do your best for them. Love is gentle. It glows from the inside out, enlightening and renewing those who feel its presence.

To me prayer is not asking God for things but recognizing that God is the voice speaking within our hearts. From God's guidance I have learned that the spiritual qualities I need—intelligence, calm, poise—naturally emanate from God. I do not have to "get" these things; I already express them because I reflect God. By expressing them, I find that they leave me in a much better place than I was before.

I found that the more gratitude I felt, the more the ideas flowed.

Recently I've had a customer service job answering questions over the telephone. At first I'd felt awkward, lacking in confidence, quite uneasy. Then, as I was working on the speech from which this article developed, praying and thinking quite a bit about the ideas expressed in it, a change came over me. I started expressing more intelligence, peace, and love. I was doing a much better job at work. Shortly thereafter my supervisor remarked what a great improvement there had been in my performance, and she seemed very pleased.

What our future is like depends upon the quality of thought we bring to it. For those willing to trust in God, Spirit, there is the bright promise of infinite good. The future is filled with possibilities when God is leading the way.

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