The essence of leadership is communication: to cast a vision, to inspire, to collaborate on strategy, and to engage followers in accomplishing a mission. But let’s face it: Many leaders fall flat on their face when it comes to communication.

The only thing that keeps the organization afloat and followers on target are those second-in-command people “picking up the slack” and translating for those leaders who struggle as communicators.

If you’re a leader, a healthy dose of fear can be a good thing. In fact, if fear doesn’t push you to take a risk, to up your game, to push to top performance, you may hit rock bottom in your career. That’s especially true if you’re plan to speak before large groups of employees, customers, or colleagues.

Speaking can be a high-stakes proposition in the age of Periscope, Instagram, and live Facebook or Twitter feeds out to the world. Audience members do not take kindly to an unprepared rambler wasting their time on irrelevant topics.