Fear says you’ll look stupid. Curiosity says yeah, but at least you’ll know. Let curiosity drive.

Both voices are telling the truth about what will happen. You might look like you do not know something, because you do not, and that is uncomfortable for a moment. The difference is what each one is protecting. One is guarding how you appear right now, the other is guarding what you will be able to do later.

You do not have to stop feeling the first one, you just have to let it lose the vote. Next time the question is sitting in your throat, ask it before you talk yourself out of it. The room almost never reacts the way fear predicted.