I hate making speeches – and for good reason. I don’t prepare for them. I ignore them until a week or two before the event. Then I suffer anxiety that rises in a crescendo until the speech and then, afterwards, drops me into a slough of regrets.

To make matters worse, I’m always asked to talk on the same topic: money. Gets boring after a while.

Right now, I’m on an American Airlines flight to a conference in Sao Paulo to talk to several hundred people about money. I asked the host of the conference what, exactly, I should speak about. He said, “Talk about anything you want. These people know who you are and they love you. It doesn’t matter what you tell them.”

That – the idea that this anonymous mass of people “love” me – helped. I felt validated. And gratified for the opportunity. So what could I say to them about money to reciprocate their good feelings?