Last week I had the great honor of speaking at a conference at Johns Hopkins University. Before my talk was a power panel of social innovators leading companies that were working on services from health equity to financial inclusion. As my session approached, I felt more pressured and conflicted about how to proceed with my presentation. I felt pressured because international development used to be my world and I was invited to the conference in part due to this history. I felt conflicted because it was no longer what I do, my purpose is now in the business of storytelling. 

Sadly, I yielded to the pressure and introduced myself as a fellow changemaker and not a storyteller. I proceeded to recount my experiences and impact in the field of social change. As you might expect, I was saying all the right things but I was also innately drifting away from my now true voice. The result was an average rapport at best with the audience. I captured the attention of a few while others reached for their phones or flowed in and out of the room for coffee. 

Finally, I decided to come from the spirit and began to speak in my now true voice as a storyteller. Unexpectedly and almost instantaneously the response of the audience shifted and everyone's attention became intently focused on me and what I had to say. The reception was so strong that several people from the audience approached me afterward inviting me to speak to their organizations or to serve as a personal/corporate coach. 

There were several opportunities in the room tied to me speaking in my true voice. Had I not shifted to this, those opportunities would have been lost and at best I would've been invited back to speak next year. Instead, I left with an unprecedented amount of new business leads. The moral of this story is this - never let who you used to be stand in the way of who you are becoming and never let the pressure of an environment hold you back from speaking in your true voice.