Comparison and judgment were at the wheel because of social media. This is how I was engaging with others and with everything that was happening in the world. The more I scrolled, the more anxious, judge-y, and comparison-y I felt.
Sure there's snappy ad copy to schedule a discovery call or to visit their website to "learn more", but I don't just want to learn more. Before I take my earbuds out of my ears, I want to spend time with the host and discover new perspectives, have space to self-reflect, and feel all the feels.
Every time I went to work on it further, a small voice inside of me whispered, "When there's so much horribleness going on in the world, why would anyone want to hear a season of a podcast about you, the book you wrote when you were 10, and how our stories play a huge role in our identity?" In other words, why would anyone care about my story?
Introduce yourself
Illuminate an idea
Win an argument
Strengthen a call to action
Be a stellar podcast guest
Perhaps you're feeling increased self-doubt when it comes to how you look on camera, or how your tone of voice and body language are translating virtually. Maybe its obsessing over “appropriate” work from home fashion choices (Can I get away with "business" on top and sweatpants on the bottom?) Then are the introspective questions around personal vs. professional identity.
But the more you dwell on the “what if’s?” when it comes to video conferencing and communication, the less chance you’ll show up in a way that feels good, easy, and true to who you are.
As someone who feels queasy every single time I am on the selling end of a sales pitch sales, I find this reframe of a sales interaction refreshing and calming. Once I give myself a moment to gut check and affirm that I genuinely want to help people (and know that my company has top notch services to do so) I can show up to pitch in an authentic way. I can do that through staying present in the moment and building relationships through storytelling.
If you are an entrepreneur that shares a founding role in your company, chances are only one of you will have the opportunity to lead a pitch presentation. All of a sudden a team effort turns into a one-woman show and there's worry that both of you won't be fully represented within your pitch. In my previous post on creating a memorable investor pitch and this post about perfecting your presentation while actively pitching. I place a huge emphasis on telling a story from your first person perspective. But this is trickier when you have two stories to tell.
Any investor pitch has the potential to be one click, tap, or swipe away. And with that instant access, it's easy to fall into the mindset of "I need a deck that looks like that Company's.", "I want my voice to sound like that Founder.” or "I need a story that's as convincing as that one." And once you’ve binge watched pitch presentations it’s tempting to Google "pitch deck template" to find sample slides, a script of talking points, and the rest of the ingredients needed to take the cookie cutter approach to your next round of funding. This is the easy way out. It’s a lackluster approach. And likely it will not lead to the results (dollars) that you are aiming for.
I made it through the VC fund application process and had a series of interviews and meetings, pitching my plans for the future of the podcast. Ultimately, the VC fund passed because of my current audience numbers and my overly ambitious P&L productions. Once I shrugged off the disappointment and feelings of failure, I saw the positive the experience: I 100% made it through those several rounds of conversation because I pitched my show, my path, and my plans through telling stories. The podcast is also really good. But that's what got me in the door. The rest of the pitch rounds were successful because of storytelling.
According to this source, approximately 75% of all people experience public speaking anxiety. Of course there are varying levels of glossophobia and it manifests differently for everyone. Whether your fear of public speaking is linked to worrying about how your words are going to received, or it results in a heat rash on your neck and chest, there is one huge action step that will absolutely move you through your fear: Do. Get up in front of people and let go of outcomes. Do it. The public speaking. Speak in front of the public. Just do it.
