I walked into the room I was speaking in at WordPress Wordcamp Vancouver 2019, about 20 minutes before I was scheduled to speak, and saw about 100 people in the seats. I quickly turned around and left, not wanting to interrupt the current speaker.
When I didn’t hear anybody on the mic, I popped back in, and realized they were waiting for me.
I was about to speak on his blog getting a million views quickly after I started it, and tell the story of my blogging journey, followed by a Q&A, to inspire other people to do it too.
I felt so good that these people showed up early, and were ready for me to speak.
A few hours earlier, another speaker approached me and said, “I don’t know why, but I am really scared to speak today.” He was a seasoned speaker, had given many talks, and said he never felt this afraid before.
I said “it’s normal to be afraid.” and told him I do guided meditations if he wanted one, and he said ‘yes’. I told him “a speech is an energy transfer.” I said “think about your intention for speaking and your why”.
I said he had a really special message to share with the people, and they needed to hear it from him alone, and what he said could be life changing for someone.
Ann Beaudet
He said he instantly felt better, by focusing on his purpose for being there, and saw there was no point in gaining all the experience he had, if he kept it all inside, and didn’t share it with people, and change them with it. I said “remember you are giving them a gift.”
There were many questions and comments from the audience after I spoke. One gentleman was blogging about Bauhaus and only getting five views. I said “the furniture is beautiful, but people can read about the value of it in any price guide. People want to read about people, and their stories. Maybe the collector bought the chair, because it reminded him of his grandfather who had one, and special times spent with him. Bring out the personal stories behind the collecting, and you will get lots of views.” I said.
A few hours later, the speaker I mentioned earlier walked by me in the lobby, looking confident, and I said “how did it go?” He said: “it went great.” And as I was packing my bag to walk to the after-party, he walked with me and then more people joined us, and we all walked together and made some new friends!