Day 24: I was brave and the crowd went wild

Public speaking normally doesn't bother me. Most of the time it energizes me.  But today I was in a pitch competition and it tied knots in my stomach.

5 minute pitches are one of the dark arts of silicon valley.  Every word is calculated and bares weight. The pitch is memorized but must come off as authentic and natural. I haven't pitched in a long time.  So stepping up to this plate felt like a piano recital where I was reading the music for the first time. 

I got a pitch coach to get some feedback.  He chewed me up and spit me out.  I was nervous that I didn't have enough time to prepare and considered backing out. Besides,  I had lots of other important work to do. Was it really worth all the energy that I knew it would take. 

All week, I repeated my words in the car as I drove.  Adding a word here,  removing one there.  Repeating phrases until they fell off my tongue naturally. The day came.  I knew I wouldn't embarrass us but I also knew thatI didn't have it down quite yet. 

I was sitting in the seat waiting for my turn.   I've been tracking my heart rate with an app on my phone.  I was curious if the nervousness had an impact on my body.  My normal resting heart rate is around 60. It was at 112. Similar to what it looks like after a run. I took some breathes. I tried to let it pass.  I repeated key phrases under my breath. 

The big moment came.  Music came on, my name was announced and I stepped on stage. 3 slides in people started laughing unintentionally turning one of my sentences into a really fun pun.  I stopped and said to everyone "Ha, that is a pretty funny pun. " From that moment my script blended with improvizational light heartedness and being on stage felt easy.  I let go of worrying about how calculated my words were and started cracking jokes making my business more approachable. People were listening.  They were laughing.  Afterwards they came up to me and talked all about what we were doing. They heard the message.  They understood it. Investors congratulated me and asked me to come pitch at their offices. 

I think sometimes in life, we try too hard.  Being brave sometimes just means showing up,  even if you don't know how it is going to go.  I could have crashed and burned. But I decided to be brave anyway. 

Faith is courage of the heart.  Believing is showing up with trust even when you can't see clearly the next step ahead. It is easier to turn back than to step into the unknown. 

Faith builds character and perseverance. We get up on stage even if we don't know what we are going say. We follow God into the desert even if we don't know where we are going. We let go of control and live in an uncomfortable place of wondering "what now"  Faith builds hope.  Hope is a light that pierces darkness in our world.

So stand up and get on stage. Take that step.  Follow that call.  Wrestle with God. The world needs all the light it can get and we find our light when we are brave enough to look.