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I heard somewhere, I think it was a sitcom, that in a poll where people listed their greatest fears, the #1 was Public Speaking, and #2 was death. At any given funeral, your average guy would rather be the one in the box than the one doing the eulogy.

In my faith, it is custom to have not a Pastor or a Priest, but to have several of the brothers in the congregation, most of them in fact, to take turns personally preparing and giving talks/speeches/sermons about bible passages/principles/lessons in front of everyone.

I have been in this group since I was nine years old. I get an assigned subject every few months. They start you out easy, reading this passage or verse, then work you up to the trickier or more nuanced stuff as you gain experience.

Tonight was my turn. It was a subject I knew, but it was a tricky angle on it, it was 15 minutes long, it was in front of 104 people that I respect and admire, including pretty much all my friends and all my family.

I nailed it. Nailed it good. I barely used my notes, by the end I ignored them completely, and just spoke from what I knew. I nailed it. When I was done, people were applauding. I have been on a high for the last four hours.

The stage is a holy place.

It's a place of entertainment, of education, of authority, of attention, and (in a religious setting,) a place of worship. And I take my worship seriously. When you're on stage you have their attention for two minutes. After those first two minutes it's all up to you. The point of giving a speech is not to look good or to be entertaining, although those things certainly help.

The point is to make them remember, and maybe its in the subject you have, or maybe it's in the illustrations or metaphors, or maybe it's just the words you choose to emphasise or repeat, but the point of it is to get the message in. Not out. Not to get the words out there, but to get them in. Into them.

Seize the subject and the words will follow. Every time I have to give one of these talks, or for that matter, every time I'm required to speak to people about anything I care about, I make this request in prayer. "Let me do my subject matter justice."

Tonight that prayer was answered for me and then some. I've never had a night like this. I did better than I've ever done before tonight. And 104 people saw me do it.

This was a good night.