The Speech

​A young professional was tasked to give a speech at a conference in front of hundreds of executives.

His boss saw competence in him, and seeing his future potential, decided that he should give the keynote address.

The young professional was surprised when he was given the news, but was honored that his boss thought so highly of him.

However, he was not confident that he could give a speech of note to the movers and shakers of his field.

This fear and doubt led the professional to put off writing the speech until the last minute.

They were even still trying to compose their ideas shortly before they were slated to go on.

Before it was their turn however, an older businessman went before him. As he finished and came backstage, he saw the uneasiness in the young professional’s countenance.

“Are you nervous?”

“...I am, very much so; I’ve spent so much time fretting on what I was going to say, I put it off until the last second…

...I’m sure it will be disastrous.”

“Do you want it to be disastrous?”

“No, sir, not at all; I want it to go as best as it can?”

“So why were you concerned about fretting and disaster if you actually want it to go well?”