He believes in me! My husband believes in me! This is the story of how my husband knew that I would be a good speaker before he ever heard me speak.
“Should I give up going to a refreshing homeschool conference workshop to be a part of a panel on math and science? They’ve asked me to be a part of the panel. I turned them down for so many years when they asked me to teach a workshop. They finally stopped asking me. It used to be fun speaking to homeschool women, but not when I’m missing workshops. Anyway, a panel might be easy. You just sit there and answer questions. Should I do it?” I was hoping that my husband would say no.
“Yes, I think you should.” Bummer. I didn’t want to miss the workshops. That was my favorite time of year, better than Christmas, and now I was going to spoil it by working. For free. And missing one of my favorite speakers.
I said, “Who would listen to me when a world-renowned speaker was speaking opposite me? The room is going to be empty. So what’s the use?”
“Susan, you could be a world-renowned speaker.”
His statement hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt like I had the wind knocked out of me, except I was happy. I realized that I had what it took to be a great speaker: tons of fun information delivered with heart and style. I suddenly realized that my husband believed in me.
I was part of the panel that year, and I only spoke for 5 or 10 minutes, since there were 6 people on the panel. I felt restless. I wanted to get up and speak, and I wanted people who wanted my information to come.
The next year I decided to do a workshop entitled “Early Childhood Education”. It ended up being a big hit. It was so much fun. The women were on the edge of their seats laughing and enjoying me. They took pages and pages of notes about what I was saying. People came up afterwards and thanked me for all the fresh ideas. I felt so happy, like I was on a high. Speaking gave me a high. I was hooked. I’ve been a speaker ever since! And all because my husband believed in me!
Tags: conferences, marriage, speaking
