There’s a moment right before you step up to speak—
A breath. A heartbeat. A choice.

Will you cling to the script and the plan?
Or will you trust what’s alive in the room?

I first learned this lesson the hard way while teaching theater at a community college.

Each summer, I would spend weeks carefully crafting a class plan. Every exercise, every moment, mapped out like clockwork.

And then real life would walk through the door.

Half the students would vanish during midterms. Plays would pull actors away. Some days it felt like nobody showed up at all.

At first, I resisted.
I tightened my grip.
I sent emails. I clung harder to the original plan.

Because that’s what I thought soulful teaching was:
Remembering everything I’d ever been taught.
Controlling the chaos.
Cramming every insight into every lesson.

Until one day, a mentor said something that cracked me open:
“You’re incredibly creative. What if you stopped resisting?”

It changed everything.

When I stopped fighting reality, let go of trying to force the plan, and started trusting the moment, a new kind of magic emerged.
I started working with and for who was in the room.
I reassigned roles, created understudy opportunities, and rewarded students for showing up and stepping up.
I adapted in real time—trusting the aliveness of the room rather than the illusion of control.

And something beautiful happened:
Everyone won.
The students grew. The energy grew.
And so did I.

Speaking is no different.

You can show up with your “perfect” talk memorized word-for-word.
You can try to cram every brilliant insight into every moment.

But true presence—the kind that moves a room—doesn’t come from controlling every beat.
It comes from Intending.
Aligning.
Inviting.
And most of all, trusting.

Not memorizing your way through.
Feeling your way forward.

In this week’s Soulful Speaking episode, Dana Baugh joins me to explore the deeper layers of Intend, Align, Invite—and how soulful speaking lives not just in your mind, but in your body.

If you’ve ever wondered how to bring some meditation mat magic into your message, this conversation is for you.

🎧 Listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/soulful-speaking/id1761929336

I’d love to hear what resonates with you. Comment below to share your reflections!