Public Speaking

As part of my freelancing/owning my own consulting company, I've been attending scores of business-to-business (B2B) networking events. The first one I attended was absolutely nerve wracking as small talk has never exactly been one of my traits, nor going up to strangers and starting a conversation. OMG, this person could hate me and shun me and turn away and mock me wasn't an uncommon (albeit irrational at best) thought before leaving for that first event. 

But, to my surprise, I actually found myself smiling and talking to new people with ease and having conversations with them. Seems bursting way the hell out of my shell by selling sex toys at house parties was exactly what I needed to make networking events seem like a breeze in comparison. Who knew? 

This skill has also helped in interviewing with companies for freelancing gigs because I now go in with the mentality that I'm there to help the person/company instead of fretting about if they'd like me or would hate me on sight and want to flee (thank you, years of being an overly self-conscious person for that perception). What I need to know when I'm meeting with a company these days is if *I* like them and want to work for them. Yes, of course, I'm there to hawk my skills and what I can do for them but at the same time, I'm not nervous, feel confident and am observing and considering if the company is a right fit for ME. So, so important. Trust me on this. I've not listened to my gut instinct in interviews before and should have. 

Today's event was interesting as I met a woman that I hadn't previously met before. She started up a local access TV show to promote successful entrepreneurs who have been in the business for 3 years or more. That doesn't apply to me yet. Key word there -- yet. But she and I got to talking and she told me how she teaches classes at a local business center and how I would be absolutely perfect to teach a class on my specialties (which I won't list here so as to stay far, far away from having this online persona connect in any way with my business life) because I'm so outgoing, bubbly and have a great speaking voice and presence. 

Holy shit. Internally, I was stunned because my first thought (again, thank you to years of growing up without self-confidence) was "Me? Seriously? Are you crazy?! I have nada to teach a class and would just turn beet red and mumble and bore the shit out of everyone." 

But, as we spoke further and my brain decided to shut the hell up, I thought about it and realized she was actually right. I've been hearing more and more from people I meet with at these events and at interviews about my bubbly outgoing demeanor and how easy it is to talk to me. And I know that I have information to give to people just based on what I do and heck, I have presented on the topics before in person to sales teams and others (again, keeping this kind of vague). She was actually the 3rd person recently who has broached the topic of public speaking to me but was the first one who actually mentioned a specific center that might work really well. 

So, when I hear from her about the information (and yes, I've already reached out -- fortune's in the follow-up, kids...), I'll talk to them and see what's possible. It's an exciting idea and these days have been insanely odd but fun/nutty days. More to follow...