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As a child growing up in the 1950s, my earliest influences were the Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello and Laurel and Hardy. I also loved the comedy team of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. They starred in a series of outrageous comedies: The Road to Zanzibar, The Road to Morocco, etc. I identified with Bob Hope because he was silly, made goofy faces and had amazing timing. I grew up wanting to be the next Bob Hope.

I was always a pretty funny kid. But unlike many children who choose to grow up and act like little adults, I chose to keep my zany and crazy personality. In fact, my comedy timing got better as the years went on. Is it any wonder that I evolved into the class clown in school? Or that I was elected the wittiest kid in my senior high school class?

As an actor, I was a natural. It really didnt matter whether I was playing the nerd, the sidekick or the clown. I owned the role and I owned the stage. I remember a review I received for my role in Alls Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare. The reviewer stated that, Mr. Stevenson took a peripheral role and turned it into the performance of the evening. And I had, because when it came to acting, I was absolutely fearless.

Many years later, after I left acting and Hollywood behind and I started giving speeches, I found myself experiencing something that I hadnt felt in a long time fear. Every time I got up to give a speech, everything Id learned as an actor and performer disappeared. It was replaced by insecurity, self-doubt and tentativeness.

At first I didnt get it. Having experienced total confidence and absolute fearlessness in acting, it was strange for me to be so nervous in this new context. Then one day it hit me; there was no play, no script, no character to hide behind. As a speaker it was just me: my words, my thoughts, my opinions. There was no place to hide.

Flashback to 1968: I remember sitting at the lunch table in my senior year of high school. There were six of us who always sat together. And more often than not, Id get on a roll and have everyone laughing hysterically with my witty comments and zingers. Even as I was doing it, I knew I had a special talent. Then the bell would ring and wed all rush off to class.

I can still see myself walking away from my friends towards class thinking to myself, That was amazing. I was so funny. I wish I knew how to capture that and do it whenever I wanted to - like Johnny Carson does.

Back then I had no ownership of my talent. It was raw and random and uncontrollable. As a speaker in the early days, I had no ownership of my role as a speaker. I was renting presentation styles and content elements from other people.

But, there was something different that happened when I told a story! The context of telling a story rekindled my acting and my comedy talents. Before too long, my speaker buddies asked if I could teach them some acting and comedy skills. I called my class Story Theater. Looking back on it now, it was a natural progression from actor to acting coach. From being directed, to being the director. And lo and behold, my fear went away.

Teaching Story Theater was intuitive. It was easy and natural. And unlike all of the other presentation styles and topics Id tried on in an effort to be perceived as a credible expert and professional speaker, with Story Theater I didnt have to rent something else. I owned it. Id found my essence and what my area of expertise really was.

For many years, and by way of hundreds of speeches as a professional speaker, I had been working my way back to that state of total confidence and absolute fearlessness. Ive changed topics, let go of material that didnt work for me and moved closer to my core competencies and natural speaking style. Ive evolved forward into a mature and graceful version of the zany, crazy clown that I was as a child and teenager.

Last Friday I gave a keynote to a group of human resource professionals from all over the world, about The Story Theater Method. I was as funny as I used to be in high school, and I realized that I had finally captured what used to be so elusive.

For years, I rented my space as a speaker. Now I own it.

When you step to the front of the room as a speaker or trainer, do you rent the space, or do you own it? Are you renting a presentation style that is a version of your idea of appropriate and professional or do you experience total confidence and absolute fearlessness? Do you hide behind content and PowerPoint? Is your personality stifled by your perception that if you really showed up, you wouldnt be accepted?

That was my fear. It was based in shame and self-doubt. By returning to my true essence, I found freedom. It was hard to trust myself. It was scary. And it didnt happen overnight. It took time, courage and perseverance. I had to try and fail, and try again.

We cannot change the world until we are willing to change. I challenge you the next time you step in front of a room full of people own it. Own your talent, own your style, own the space. Claim it all for your own, with total confidence and fearlessness. Never rent again.

Own it!

*************

Doug Stevenson, president of Story Theater International, is the creator of The Story Theater Method and the author of the book, Never Be Boring Again. He provides keynotes speeches, corporate training and individual speech and story coaching.

His 10 CD - How to Write and Deliver a Dynamite Speech audio learning system, is a workshop in a box. It contains an 80-page follow along workbook. Learn more at: Dynamite Speech Home Study Course

Some of his clients include: Hewlett Packard, Century 21, Volkswagen, Oracle, The Department of Defense, GlaxoSmithKline, The American Medical Association, The Irish Management Institute, Amgen, The Denmark Ministry of Finance, UPS, The Internal Revenue Service, The National Education Association and many more.

Doug can be reached at 1-800-573-6196 or 1-719-573-6195 or at: http://www.storytheater.net

Subscribe to his RSS feed on his blog at http://www.dougstevenson.com

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