If you’re someone who feels the energy of a room the moment you walk into it, you probably know this experience:

You step on stage…
and suddenly it’s like running into a wall of human energy.

Every nervous system in the room.
Every emotion.
Every expectation.

For sensitive visionaries, loving rebels, and open-hearted leaders who feel the room deeply, that moment can feel overwhelming.

But there’s a simple way to make it much easier.

I learned this lesson through theatre.

Years ago, I was performing in Lysistrata. In that play, the characters speak directly to the audience. During rehearsals we practiced these moments facing rows of empty red chairs.

Preview night arrived, and suddenly those chairs were filled with real human beings.

Exciting… right?

Except something strange happened.

One by one, members of the cast walked onstage — and promptly imploded.

The shift from empty chairs to hundreds of actual nervous systems in the room was overwhelming.

Fast forward about fifteen years.

I was performing the role of Julian of Norwich in a production of Glory Glory. This time, the director gave me an unusual instruction:

I had to be onstage thirty minutes before the show began, already in character.

When he first told me that, my reaction was immediate:

Oh my God. I do not want to do this.

But it turned out to be a gift.

Because that’s where I learned the tip I’m sharing with you today.

As I stood onstage before the performance began, audience members started entering the theatre.

One person.

Then another.

Then small groups.

Instead of being hit with the energy of the entire audience all at once, I experienced it gradually.

I could breathe.

I could feel the room.

I could process the energy in small pieces.

By the time the show began, my nervous system had already acclimated to the space and the people in it.

Over time, I began to think of this as becoming a human air conditioner.

When you’re present in the space early, your body has time to process and circulate the energy of the room.

You’re not overwhelmed by it.

You metabolize it.

Now I use this principle all the time — not just in theatre, but in speaking and leadership.

Because when you lead, you’re not just delivering information. You’re holding the emotional and energetic field of the room.

Sometimes, as an actor, I’ll even stand backstage behind a set wall so I’m physically in the room while the audience enters.

As a speaker, the strategy is even easier.

Get there early.

Arrive early enough to:

• warm up physically
• warm up vocally
• be present in the room

Then stay in the space while people enter.

Instead of walking onstage and facing the full force of the room’s energy all at once, you get to feel it bit by bit.

Person by person.

Group by group.

Your nervous system has time to adjust.

Your presence deepens.

And by the time you begin speaking, the audience already feels familiar.

This simple practice can become part of a larger set of rituals for preparing and recovering from speaking and leadership moments.

The key is paying attention to your own system.

Notice what happens physically, emotionally, and energetically before you speak.

Then design rituals that help bring ease into the process of preparing, delivering, and recovering.

Because when you learn how to work with the energy of the room instead of fighting it, something powerful happens.

You stop trying to control the room — and start leading it.

With love & passion,
Lauri