Remember to cut the price tag off of your brand new blouse before you wear it to Sacrament meeting, in giving a talk at the pulpit, in front of a large congregation.

It’s fine. My husband slyly pulled it off after I sat back down.

Well, the time came, sooner than I had expected, that we were asked to speak in Sacrament meeting. To many of you, this may surprise you, but we actually enjoyed it. We weren’t really nervous about it. Maybe that is because we both do pretty well in public speaking situations.

I think it is funny that people make such a fuss about giving talks in church, especially as a married couple. I remember feeling more nervous when flying solo. I noticed a few things as I sat on the stand, as I spoke to the congregation, and while I reflect on that experience now.

• I enjoyed being a part of the hype that comes with getting to tell the story of how you and your wife met, before giving your talk. People definitely laughed at ours. But it wasn’t as big of a deal, especially since we didn’t have 10 kids to name off one by one, and tell their favorite sandbox toy they like to play with, and other similar information that people don’t need to know about over the pulpit. I’m glad the majority of my time consisted of my talk and not my life story.
• FACT: Most people start out with jokes when they first start their talks.
• FACT: Most people give a courtesy laugh at those jokes.
• One of the reasons we were excited to speak in church, was because we knew it would help people get to know us better and thus lead us to making new friends in the ward, AND IT DID! That’s a definite positive, unless you don’t want friends and want to live like a social hermit forever.
• FACT: Starting your talk out by quoting the theme song to “Les Miserables,” and having the bishop get up and whisper to you that it is probably not appropriate for Sacrament meeting, is probably NOT the way you should begin your talk. (Seriously, this really happened in a ward that shall not be named. Funniest part: it didn’t stop there. She continued to give us what sounded like an analytical essay comparing each character and their trials to each Young Women’s value.)
• FACT: People are going to tell you how good of a job you did on your talk, so don’t stress too much about every word you say. I’m sure people still told that Les Miz girl she did a good job, haha.

Maybe these thoughts will be somewhat helpful the next time you give a talk in church, or maybe just a good laugh out of it.

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