I hated public speaking. I was scared and always worried about being judged. Growing up, I never participated in competitions at school and shied away from every occasion that required me to speak in front of people. That avoidance followed me into my work life too. I always held back in meetings, lacking the courage to speak my mind, which slowed down the opportunities coming my way. Underneath it all, I carried a constant, nagging sense of inadequacy about myself.
The Change
The turning point came when I was passed up for a promotion for the third time. That was when I knew something had to give. I had to bite the bullet and push myself out of my comfort zone, no matter how hard it felt.
So I started small. I put my hand up to make a small, inconsequential presentation at work, just to prove to myself I could do it. I found myself a mentor to guide me along the way. I made a point of reading one book a month to keep building my confidence and skills. And in between all of that, I practised in front of the mirror, over and over, until the words felt a little less foreign coming out of my mouth.
"Fear doesn't have to disappear before you move forward; stop feeding it with avoidance, and it gradually loses its power over you."
Slow and steady. Today I am a corporate trainer, delivering trainings and seminars to large groups. The fear is still there, it never fully went away, but I have learnt to manage it. We all have monsters we need to choose which ones we feed, and I chose to stop feeding my fear monster.
