Tidying up my daughter’s desk I noticed her well used rubber. When we write in pencil we can simply rub out what we don’t like. We can let our perfectionism run riot across the page. Preferring neat and tidy as an end product.

Not so easy when you are speaking.

We have no way to erase what we just said – there is no do-over. So, for many of us, that means we simply mentally erase the entire message. We don’t speak up or out. The idea never sees the light of day.
There is no immediate consequence of this action to you. But do this over days, months and years the cumulative effect is massive. We develop the habit of erasing a thought before it has had time to breathe. That could have been your glimpse of brilliance, the one that your audience was just waiting to hear.

Accepting our imperfect ways of expressing ourselves when speaking is a massive step towards getting better at it.

Say um, say err, say the wrong words but say something imperfectly rather than say nothing perfectly.