Spirit Magazine - October 2013 - (Page 82)

And fortunately, you have a lot of control over how you appear. “What three words do I want people to think when they see me today?” Style consultant Bridgette Raes says to ask yourself this question every time you get dressed. If the words are confident, smart, powerful, you’ll dress differently than if you’re trying for artistic, fun, free spirit. And if your clothes are in line with your message, you’ll project authenticity, and more than anything you say or do in the spotlight, people will remember you. F or many, learning techniques and getting experience and feedback are the ticket to speaking in public more freely. For others, who know their material cold and have performed perfectly thousands of times but freeze up (or live in fear of freezing up) when the stakes are high, more practice may not be what’s needed. Releasing ourselves from a fear of failure may be the key. Barbra Streisand stopped giving live performances for 27 years after blanking on song lyrics in concert. Even Adele battles stage fright, telling Rolling Stone that she escaped out the fire exit at one show and has thrown up from nerves more than once. How does she cope with all the live performances she has to give? “I just think that nothing’s ever gone horrifically wrong,” she says in the article. She also cracks jokes and draws upon Sasha Carter, an alter ego she created to pump herself up that is Beyoncé’s Sasha Fierce and country legend June Carter combined. The stories of celebrities with stage fright are legion, but even with lower stakes, we all get that jolt of fear: This is the day everyone discovers I’m an idiot. “I think that your courage goes as deep as the center of the earth,” said Tony Smith, a professional coach to many CEOs and public figures. Tony was a church acquaintance who would tell me during coffee hour that each of us has the power to transform the world, if we could release both our fear of failure and our fear of success. That was a welcome thought on the day of the Listen to Your Mother show. A few weeks after I auditioned, I got the news that I’d been chosen to be one of 15 readers for the Manhattan event. I was both thrilled and terrified at the prospect of reading my own words onstage. On the day of the show I stood in front of my closet, paralyzed by choice: heels or flats, lipstick or gloss, Spanx or sucking in. Which kept my mind off thinking of all that could go wrong. “Things going wrong” is its own category when it comes to reasons people dread public speaking. Things go wrong all the time in life, but when it’s in front of other people, it feels exponentially worse. And because there is no end to the number of ways things could go wrong— up to and including tripping and http://www.Crosswalks.com http://www.Crosswalks.com http://www.Crosswalks.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Spirit Magazine - October 2013

Spirit Magazine - October 2013
Contents
Gary’s Greeting
Star of the Month
Freedom Story
From the Editor
Your Words
Your Pictures
Media Center
Eat Drink Sleep
The Numbers
Business
Be Here Now
Don’t Just Stand There
Your Adventure In San Jua
Promotional Series: Florida: Full of Surprises
Your Adventure In San Juan
Promotional Series: Focus on Women’s Health
Promotional Series: Focus on Franchises
Calendar
Fun!
Spotlight
Community Outreach
Products & Services
Flight Service
Terminal Maps
Information
Rapid Rewards and A+ Rewards Partners
Route Map
The “If” List

Spirit Magazine - October 2013