300 Investors, One Stage, and the Six Words That I Carry with Me to this Day
The advice that carried me through 20 years on stage — and what I wish I'd had access to even sooner.
I was 26 years old, standing in the back of a conference room in Vegas, watching someone else present on the same stage I was about to walk onto.
The room held 300 investors.
I didn’t actually know that number going in, which — looking back — was probably a good thing. I had prepared obsessively. I knew my talking points cold, I knew the story we needed to tell, I was ready to go.
And I was absolutely terrified.
I remember standing in that crowd, staring out at this sea of people, thinking: What have I gotten myself into?
My boss at the time — an incredible human, one of my first real mentors — didn’t love presenting. It was actually part of why he wanted me on his team. I loved it. I had studied drama my whole life and being on a stage came naturally to me.
And still — I was terrified.
Then a woman — a speaker on the circuit — said something to me that I have never forgotten:
“When you’re looking out at that audience, remember: nobody wants you to fail.”
That was it. That was all I needed.
I walked onto that stage, and I delivered an excellent presentation. And from that moment on, presenting on those stages became a regular part of my role for years to come.
But here’s what I’ve been thinking about lately.
When I look back on my speaking career — all those stages, all those rooms, all those years — I can see something now that I couldn’t see then.
Every single time I walked up to that podium, I had to put on what I can only describe as a performer’s cloak. A version of myself that was polished and prepared and capable. A version that could hold the room.
And I was nervous every single time. For twenty years — it never got easier.
I used to think that was just the price of doing it well. The nerves meant you cared. The adrenaline was part of the performance. That’s what I told myself.
Now I understand something different.
What I was doing — what so many of us do — was performing from pressure instead of speaking from myself. I was reaching for confidence instead of accessing it. I was working so hard to show up a certain way that I never fully understood how I was naturally wired to communicate.
If I had known that then? I think those twenty years might have felt very different.
I’ve worked with CEOs who were terrified of presenting. People who were brilliant, credible, deeply respected — and completely undone the moment they had to stand in front of a room. What I would coach them on then was presence, technique and script. What I coach them on now is themselves. Their own voice. The confidence that is already there, waiting to be accessed.
Because here’s what I know to be true: the fastest way to find your footing in any high-stakes moment — a pitch, a presentation, a room full of investors — is to understand how you are innately wired to communicate.
Not how someone else does it. Not the version you’ve been performing. Your voice. By design.
That’s exactly what the Reclaim Your Voice masterclass is built around.
If you’ve ever stood at the back of a room wondering what you’ve gotten yourself into — or felt the strange exhaustion of showing up confidently on the outside while quietly bracing on the inside — this is for you.
Join me on March 26th at 12pm Eastern.
You can register at theinflectionmethod.com/voice.
I can’t wait to see you there.