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This Alumni-written article is part of HEROIC’s Industry Insiders series: a collection dedicated to highlighting the current and authentic experiences of leaders sharing their voices and messages in diverse fields.
After hundreds of rehearsals by myself and three open rehearsals with intimate groups of friends, I was finally ready to deliver my keynote.
The audience was filled with women with open hearts, ready to listen. Crazy enough, I didn’t feel nervous. I felt excited, deeply excited, to finally birth my visionary talk into the world.
My colleague took the mic and shared with excitement that after running my own executive coaching and consulting firm for 25 years, I was about to share my keynote for the first time. “Please welcome the founder of On Your Path Consulting and podcast host… Johanna Beyer!”
I took the stage. It was on.
As I started to share my keynote, I felt confident and in my skin. The talk was in my bones. Just like the faculty at HEROIC taught me, the movements and the words were guiding me through the experience.
My body and mind knew exactly what to do… until they didn’t. Somewhere in the middle of the talk, I went blank.
Completely blank.
I had no idea where I was in the speech or what came next. It was one of the worst feelings I’ve ever experienced, like being trapped in a bad dream while standing in front of a room full of people waiting for you to continue.
And yet, in that terrifying moment, something inside me remembered the training.
Because of My Public Speaking Training, I Knew What to Do
One of the most important lessons the HEROIC Faculty drilled into our minds was this: when you go blank—not if, but when—slow down.
So that’s exactly what I did.
Instead of panicking or rushing to fill the silence, I went inward. I took a breath. Then another. I trusted that I knew the talk inside and out, even though I couldn’t access it at that moment.
Then I told the audience the truth: “Hang with me for a little bit—I’ve gone blank. It’s going to come back.”
For about sixty long seconds, the room sat in silence with me. No pretending. No performing. No escaping. Just me staying with myself in one of the hardest moments I could imagine.
Then, as suddenly as it had vanished, my voice returned, flooding my entire being with clarity and purpose.
I found my place, settled into the rhythm again, and landed the plane.
The remaining ten minutes of the keynote unfolded effortlessly. The message I had worked so hard to shape, Sweat the Small Stuff: Avoidance Never Gets Rewarded, resonated deeply with the audience.
I shared practical strategies for staying connected to ourselves and to one another, and how committing to these practices in my own life helped my body heal from a devastating illness. I ended with this: sweat the small stuff, pay attention to your whispers, and when your inner truth and outer world align, that is peace. That is power.
Standing ovation.
The sixty women in the room stood up, applauding and cheering. I was overwhelmed with a sense of accomplishment, pride, and yes, relief! The message I had worked so hard to craft, the one I knew would help people prevent crises in their lives, was finally real.
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