I had arrived a bit early, so I sat in a chair in the waiting room, sweating profusely. The assistant laughed at me and handed me a box of tissues to wipe my forehead. Trying hard to look casual, I walked over to the window and pretended to be intensely interested in the houses 51 stories below, but the real reason I was there was that the air conditioner blew cool air against the window, and I thought that might help me dry my forehead. The assistant probably knew exactly what I was doing and laughed at me yet again.

“Why am I so nervous?” I thought, “I’ve been coming to see this guy for months.”

“This guy” was the CEO and Chairman of one of the biggest companies in Turkey. If you live in Turkey, you probably use their services every day, maybe more than that.

My appointment time arrived. Not one minute before, and not one minute after, the assistant ushered me into This Guy’s office. As I had been for months, I took my designated seat, and This Guy came over and took his.

Once the small talk was over, he leaned forward and said, “Matt, I admire you a lot.”

I smiled casually and asked him why. What he didn’t hear was the voice screaming in my head, “Wait a minute, you admire me?! How could that even be possible?! Don’t you know I practically worship the ground you walk on?! Don’t you know the reason I’m sweating like this is because I live in fear that you might one day realize I am not worthy of sitting on this couch?!”

My point here is that when you are presenting, don’t forget that the audience needs something, and they are hoping you will fill that need. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking they are the kings, and you are the peon, and that they know everything and are perfect. The reality, though, is that they don’t, and are not. They need something from you, in the same way that you need something from them. That’s why they’ve asked you to speak.