Welcome back to the Look and Sound of Leadership, an ongoing series of executive

coaching tips designed to help you be perceived in the workplace the way you want to

be perceived. I'm Tom Henschel, your executive coach, and today we're talking

about managing nervousness. Of 15 division presidents at a Worldwide Entertainment Conclamorate, Marla is one of two females.

She's always been a nervous speaker, but presenting at her first President's meeting took her to

new heights or depths of nervousness.

Everyone swiveled towards her as she stood at the end of the long polished conference table,

and she began to speak. Twenty minutes or so later she finished.

Gathering her papers, she saw a note in her assistance handwriting.

She was certain it hadn't been there when she started and she wondered where it had come from.

Later, her assistant told her that while

Marla was speaking, she, the assistant, had entered the back of the conference room, walked

the entire length of the conference table, handed the note to Marla and waited while she read it.

After Marla had thanked her, the assistant had again walked the entire length of the room

before exiting.

What completely spooked Marla was that she had absolutely no memory of any of that ever happening.

Marla's blindness isn't all that unusual. I know for a fact. One night I was on stage with an actress who was saying

her lines to me. I could see her lips moving, but I couldn't hear her because my nerves had

made me deaf. At that moment I decided I would never be ruled by my nerves again,

and I never have. Here's the technique that saved me. You can use it to manage your own nervousness.

I couldn't hear that actress because my nerves were taking

up all the space inside my head. They were saying things that frighten me so badly I couldn't

...