A few years ago, a young woman came to my office at Harvard, closed the door and began crying. She’d signed up for my communications course but was going to drop it because she was deathly afraid of public speaking.

I asked her to come to class the first week when we film each student giving a speech. Then come back to my office after the filming and we’d review it – after we reviewed it, if she still wanted to drop the course, she could. She agreed.

When she came to my office the following week, she again broke into tears because, as she said she had done in the past, she froze during her speech and ran from the stage crying.

I said we should review the speech.

After a few seconds into the film, which showed the student enter the room, smile to the audience and make eye contact with them, I paused it. I told her that she had a great smile and her eye contact was warm and friendly – the first impression of her was very good.

She again protested that she broke down and couldn’t speak.

I asked her why she wanted to be a good public speaker.

Her story was heartbreaking.

She said that when she was a child her parents were killed in a car accident and she was sent to foster homes while growing up.

More than once she’s been sexually molested and she believed if she could tell her story to other young girls, they might have the strength to speak up and get help.

I told her to tell that story – after she made her first impression with a smile and eye contact and to begin the story with the line, “I’m going to tell you a story today that will break your heart – I know because it broke mine.”

She did. After a full semester of training, she gave that speech at semester’s end to the entire class. The class gave her a standing ovation – there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.