I am currently reading David Eagleman’s book of short stories, ‘Sum: Forty tales from the afterlives’.

The first in the collection is ‘Sum’ and it begins…

‘In the afterlife you relive all your experiences, but this time with the events reshuffled into a new order: all the moments that share a quality are grouped together.’

In the story this is true whether it’s 30 years of sleeping, or a 200 day shower, or 77 hours of confusion.

This got me thinking about the experience of speaking publicly, as a whole. What would it look like to fit all those experiences into one? What would the tone and feel of it be?

When I think about the amazing speakers I coach, and my own motivation as a speaker, these look like hours well spent to me! I see humans sharing the best of their knowledge, and communicating at their highest, most thoughtful capacity. Doing so in a spirit of generosity, and with a desire to connect.

If the afterlife did look as described in the story, I know that I wouldn’t regret those hours and days, not for one minute. What about you? How many hours or days do you want to spend speaking publicly this year?