Steven LaChance Blog

I’ve spent most of my life behind microphones and in front of cameras. In many ways, it is where I feel most comfortable because it was what I was trained to do. Broadcasting. Debate. Theater. Public speaking. Years of learning timing, rhythm, presence, and how to hold the attention of a room. I actually prefer live performance over recorded work. Give me a stage, a microphone, and an audience, and something in me immediately clicks on. That space feels natural to me.

Lecturing became another extension of that. Over the years I’ve spoken in front of audiences of more than five thousand people, and once the lights come up, I know exactly what to do.

But here is the strange part.

I still get nervous every single time.

Not a little nervous either. Genuine butterflies. That moment right before you walk out when your mind suddenly asks, “Can you still do this?” Then the lights hit, the camera rolls, or the crowd reacts, and suddenly this entirely different side of me steps forward. It is almost automatic at this point. Showtime.

What most people would probably find funny is that off camera I am actually a very private person. Quiet. Observant. I like calm spaces. I am not usually the loudest person in the room unless I need to be. I think somewhere deep down I always knew I was naturally shy in certain ways, which is exactly why I pushed myself toward the spotlight in the first place.

Sometimes the thing we fear most becomes the thing we eventually learn to master. All kinds of stages have been that for me. Television studios. Lecture halls. Theaters. Live events. I still find there are moments when I miss the audience itself. That give and take of energy and interaction is hard to beat. There is something electric about a live room that no camera can fully replace.

I would maybe like to do something again someday as the new and improved version of myself. Maybe another stage. Another production. Another lecture tour. Something creative. Something live.

And honestly, I’ve never looked or felt better in my life.

But if it happens, it happens. And if it doesn’t, that is okay too.

I’ve already been blessed with a career most people only dream about. Stage. Television. Lecturing. Film. Broadcasting. Writing. I’ve had the opportunity to step into worlds and experiences I never could have imagined when I was younger.

Not many people get the chance to fully realize themselves the way I have.

For that, I’m deeply grateful.

I think that is part of getting older too. You stop measuring your life only by what is still ahead of you and begin appreciating the extraordinary things you already lived through. And when I really stop and think about it, I’ve been lucky enough to live a pretty remarkable life already.