The first time you speak up, your voice shakes. By the tenth time, people lean in.

The physical fear of speaking is loudest the first time and reduces mostly through repetition rather than through preparation. What changes is not your nerve but your familiarity, and after enough attempts the same room feels like a room instead of a test. The shaking on day one predicts nothing about how it goes.

Take the smaller opportunities on purpose, the question in a meeting, the comment in a class. Aim for frequency instead of a perfect performance. The tenth time is the goal, and the only route there is through the first.