Shareatha Coleman did not lack material for a speech. She had so many stories that choosing one had become a difficulty of its own. She wanted something powerful — “explosive”, as she put it — but did not feel confident working out how to get there alone.

“I didn't want a dull speech,” she said. “I know I needed help.”

That search brought her into contact with Gerard Grogans, a transformational life and speech development coach and author of The Blueprint: How to Recreate Your Life in Six Simple Steps. In describing their work together, Shareatha begins with thanks for help with her speech. But her account soon moves beyond choosing a subject or making an impression on an audience.

More than material for a speech

The shift, for Shareatha, was in recognising what her stories contained. They were not simply experiences to select and arrange for listeners. They carried feelings she had yet to work through.

She said Gerard Grogans “showed me that my stories were bigger than just stories”. They were, she explained, “stories filled with emotions that I needed to process”.

That distinction changed the task she saw ahead. Her initial concern had been what to talk about; now she was considering how revisiting difficult experiences might affect her own emotional life.

“I can't wait to go through all the negative events in my life so that I can break down all the stories,” she said, adding that she wanted to “feel better emotionally”.

This is an aspiration, not a claim that the work is complete. Shareatha describes something she wants to undertake, with the hope of understanding and feeling differently about experiences she has lived through.

Confidence still in progress

Her account does not offer a neat before-and-after story about confidence. Even while expressing gratitude for the connection, she acknowledges that uncertainty remains.

Speaking about who might need a one-on-one mentor, she describes someone “who's not confident like I was, like I am”. The correction matters: she does not present herself as having left every doubt behind.

For her, support and uncertainty exist together. Having a mentor has not made the process sound effortless; it has helped her recognise that there is a process at all.

“I didn't realize that speaking is such a big process, but I guess I understand it if you're trying to motivate people.”

Ready for the work

Shareatha's strongest statement is not about a finished speech or an audience's response. It is about her willingness to continue.

And so I am up for the challenge, I will say that.

She closes with gratitude for Gerard Grogans. What emerges is a student still finding her confidence, but with a different understanding of the stories she hopes to tell.