You’ve researched this industry, this organization, this group. You know the theme of this meeting, the purpose of this meeting, the challenges they face.

You’ve created your program, packed it with insights, enlivened it with wisdom. You have answers to questions, solutions for challenges, stories that prove your points.

You’re center stage. You look confidently at your audience. You remember those who have stood where you are now:

Marc Antony standing over the bleeding body of Caesar, facing Brutus, Cassius and the rest. George Washington standing before his rag-tag, ill-fed, ill-equipped troops at Valley Forge, Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg.

And in smaller settings, the milkmaid Joan of Orleans standing before the King of France, Christopher Columbus standing before Queen Isabella, Leonardo in the Court of the Medici.

What did these speakers have in common? What was the source of their power? Why were they so awesome? It was their inner fire, their passionate belief, their resolute commitment.

Their inner fire empowered them. Your inner fire empowers you. Take these actions to let your inner fire out:

1. Generate an inner glow
Consciously arouse a feeling that is a combination of alertness, excitement, exhilaration, elation, anticipation, confidence and emotion. Be acutely aware of an intensification, a surging build-up of these feelings, while you consciously keep them restrained and controlled—ready to release. This produces a vibrant inner tension—like the archer’s bow drawn back. This is how you engage your inner fire.

Practice arousing this combination of feelings within you. Start when you’re alone, with no distractions. Make a written list of the feelings on a small card, then practice them in order. Alertness—excitement—exhilaration—elation—anticipation— confidence—emotion.

2. Radiate an outer glow
It’s easy! Simply feel yourself doing it. Feel surrounded by an aura of radiant personal magnetism—just as a real magnet is surrounded by a magnetic field. You can attract anything you want within your magnetic field.

3. Smile with your eyes
A smile that starts within your eyes also starts within your heart. And it’s at the heart level you really get through to people.

Internalizing these thoughts a few minutes before you go on. Let your inner fire out. Be amazed at the difference this makes in your performance.