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-Great Men Who Lacked Confidence
The gaining of self-confidence and courage and he ability to
think calmly and clearly while talking to a group is not as difficult as most
people think. It is not a gift bestowed by providence on only a few rarely
endowed individuals. Anyone can develop his own latent capacity if he has
sufficient desire to do so. It is like the ability to play golf.
Mark Twain felt as if his mouth were filled with cotton and
his pulse were speeding, when he stood up to lecture for the first time. “The
first time I attempted to make a public talk”, confessed Lloyd George, “I tell
you I was in a state of misery. It is no figure of speech, but literally true,
that my tongue clove to the roof of my mouth; and a first, I could hardly get
out a word”.
Charles Steward Parnell, the great Irish leader, at the
outset of his speaking career, was so nervous that he frequently clenched his
fists until his nail sank into his flesh and his palms bled.
