I was on a panel of an entreprenuerial start garden hearing pitches for seed funding recently. One of the presenters kept moving around and seemed like was drifting away from the panel as he was sharing his idea– I could tell he was nervous. He even started out his message by saying he felt like David facing Goliath implying his longshot odds at funding. His idea wasn’t bad but to be honest I was distracted by his poor delivery—his words and actions didn’t align.
His comment of David & Goliath stuck with me and prompted me to re-read the story in 1 Sam 17 the other day. If you remember, the story has a Rocky theme to it but one line struck me that I had never thought of before.
“David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him” — 1 Sam 17:48.
Lean In |
David did something that I haven’t been doing lately and what this guy failed to do in his pitch. David leaned into his situation rather than, like his fellow countrymen, running from it! For 40 consecutive days, Goliath taunted the Israelites. And each time, they became more fearful and scared and avoided this bully. And Goliath grew from 8 ft to 25ft tall in their minds. The natural tendency in fear is flight isn’t it? When we are nervous or when conflict comes we tend to avoid it, brush it under the rug, or run from it hoping it will go away.
Like this start garden pitch, I have seen many people when presenting or pitching their ideas in a meeting or to an audience step or move backwards when expressing a point they are making. And when they do they are making the same mistake that the Israelites were making—failing to lean in. Many of us do it not realizing it because subconsciously we are afraid of public speaking. But by stepping backwards the message that you are sending is indicating that you are nervous, hanging onto the past, feeling uncomfortable or don’t whole-heartedly believe in your idea. You see your body and actions need to align with your words to maximize effectiveness.
What you are really doing is succumbing to your Goliath of lack of confidence. The bully is winning. Instead do what David did and lean in or move forward.
Put into Practice |
In practical terms to help you grow, mentally divide your room or stage into halves—one being the front half that is parallel or closer to your audience. When you are talking, put yourself in the back half just prior to making your point. Then step into this front half as you make your positive point. Moving forward emphasizes your belief in the point and projects self-confidence.
Question |
Are you leaning or running in your current or most recent challenge?
It is so easy to be consumed by fear. However, fear is not from God. It is manipulation by Satan. Remember, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” Psalm 56:3.
This definitely inspires confidence to move forward with some of the things that are only holding me back because of fear of failure.
Definitely something to continually remind myself when dealing with conflict. Lean in and be confident and courageous with each and every difficult situation.