Hi Friend, I hope you’ve been enjoying these more thoughtful, inspiring letters rather than my newsletter-type mailings I sent in the past (if you were just added to my mailing list, these types of letters are a new approach for all of you to be inspired and for me to build a deeper connection with you). Send me a text or email with your feedback!
January 31, 2020
🎤“Speak” Out of Your Comfort Zone🎤
I believe you truly get to know someone when you not only know their dreams and accomplishments but also some of their fears, so here are a few of mine. I have a fear of roller coasters. I have a fear of bad luck (I’m superstitious). I have a fear of losing my loved ones (who doesn’t?). I used to have a fear of public speaking.
I was the child that would miss school because of a project presentation and take a lower grade just so I wouldn’t have to stand in front of my class (sorry mom, I wasn’t always “sick”). One year, I was nominated to serve as class president in Elementary School and cried my way out of it because of this fear. As a teen, I only took speech class because it was a requirement for me to graduate and I dreaded every minute of it.
Over the years I’ve become more relaxed around smaller groups (like 20 people or less) and have no qualms leading that smaller group or hosting a friend’s shower. Many people are/were shocked to learn of my fear of public speaking because they’ve seen my confidence when I’m one-on-one or with a small group and assumed I would have no hesitations behind a microphone. But those that really knew me, knew I was secretly suffering when tasked to address my largely attended events, like my Light Up UCF event, which can have a couple hundred attendees. The first few years I would be sick to my stomach leading up to that moment to introduce Santa, my body would shake and you could hear it in my voice, I would tear up easily because my nerves were shot, and I would always worry that I would forget to say something or stumble over something (which I always did and actually still do – I’ve learned I’m only human).
As a small business person, I know networking within the community is a great resource. I found a fabulous networking group, Oviedo Businesswomen’s Network, and after many years of just being an attendee I wanted to be more involved in leadership. In 2017, I became co-chair (or co-president if that’s a more familiar title for you) to lead the networking group, except I wanted to be more behind the scenes than behind the microphone leading the event. After 2 years of being behind the scenes, in 2019 I was challenged to face my fear to get behind the microphone and emcee the networking events, which typically has 55-75 attendees. Yowza! As each month passed last year, I began to get more comfortable and now speaking in front of a larger group is much less nerve-racking; I am extremely grateful for that opportunity to get out of my comfort zone.
A few weeks ago, I was interviewed on stage in front of about 200 of my real estate peers. Of course, the fear resurfaced but it wasn’t as severe and I did stumble over my words the first minute and then got in the groove. I think I can finally say that I’ve overcome my fear of public speaking… but I’m not sure I’m ready for a crowd of 500+ (LOL). Time will tell and so will my opportunities to test it!
Growth has been a constant factor for me in the past year and I hope it continues. I hope by me sharing, you are motivated to grow, too! What is a fear that you want to conquer?
Your friend and Realtor,
Amber
