As she listened in to the current speaker while she was back stage, she heard that he was almost done with his presentation and in a matter of minutes she would be up.  Several months ago Ana had volunteered to speak at her company’s annual Management Convention as she knew it was a great opportunity to do so, even though every part of her body told her not to.  She had never felt comfortable speaking in public, to the point that she failed a class in college because she refused to present her final project to her peers and professor.  But she knew she had to get over this fear that had been robbing her of opportunities.  And so there she was, minutes away from getting in front of the crowd of 500+ people that consisted of division directors, the Chairman, board members, and many close colleagues.  She had attended this convention before, but the view from the stage was very different.  Although she had tried to visualize in her head how this would be, now that she saw the view from the stage, she never imagined how exposed it would make her feel.  The room was a large auditorium.  The lighting was such that the speaker did have the large spot light on them, but there was enough lighting around where every audience member’s face could be clearly seen.  The stage was large, to a point where it was almost expected for you to walk around while speaking. 

The remaining minutes before she would start speaking felt like hours.  As she heard the current presentation coming to an end, her heart started pounding even harder, as if it was going to jump out of her chest.  Her hands started to get sweaty and she started to get some chills, not helped by an unexplained cool breeze that would pass by about every thirty seconds.  “You can do this Ana”, she started telling herself, “But what if I forget what I’m supposed to say?  What if I say something I’m not supposed to say?  What if I get so nervous that no one even understands what I’m saying?  No, this thing that you’re feeling now, this is excitement not nervousness.  Your body doesn’t know the difference remember, and so shouldn’t you.  This is a great opportunity. What I’m feeling is excitement!”  And she began to walk towards the stage as they called her name.

Ana completed her speech and after a large applause, she walked off the stage with a smile mixed in with some tears as she was very happy with what she had just accomplished.  The rest of the evening for Ana was full of compliments from everyone she ran into, telling her what a great job she did and that she was the highlight of the evening.  Several weeks later Ana went out for lunch with her colleague and close friend Debra.  “So how does it feel to have celebrity status, Ana?  Everybody is still talking about you after that speech you gave in the Management Convention”, says Debra as they’re sitting down waiting for their food.  “OK, I guess.  I’m just glad to have been able to get over my fear of speaking in public.  Not that I won’t be nervous if I ever have to do it again, but my confidence level about it has certainly gotten much better so it will certainly be less terrifying the next time around,” Ana responded.  Debra continued, “Good because you know you’re a shoe-in to speak in the next convention right?”  “That would be great, I have some ideas already,” Ana responded.  The waiter then came by and dropped off their drinks and some bread.  After Debra sliced a piece of bread for Ana and herself, she asked, “Ana, that speech you gave was really amazing and you know that.  You mentioned it’s something you had been working on for years and just never had the courage to share it before.  If you speak at the next convention, or I might as well say when you speak at the next convention, aren’t you afraid that it isn’t going to be as good as the one you just gave?”  Ana takes a sip of her drink then with a smile she responds, “All I can say is that I will put everything I got into writing and delivering my next speech, just like I did with this one, and if my Genius decides not to show up, well then it’s not my fault.”  With a puzzled look, Debra asks, “Your Genius?  What do you mean?”  Ana continues, “Have you ever heard a speech by author Elizabeth Gilbert, or the TED Talk she gave?”  “No, I haven’t”, Debra responded.  “She mentions how creative people put all the burden on themselves to come up with something amazing and it ends up killing them, figuratively or literally in some cases.  But if you consider that these moments of high creativity, or these sparks of amazing ideas, are brought on by this external force, this external being, then it relieves you of this heavy burden”, Ana continued.  “That’s crazy”, Debra responded, “You believe in that?”  Ana responded, “Yes, it’s crazy and it’s illogical, but why not think of it this way.  I’m not saying to use this as an excuse, as a way out, you have to give it your all.  What I’m saying, or I should say, what Elizabeth Gilbert is saying, is that there’s no reason to beat yourself up if you tried your hardest.”  The waiter then arrived with their food and before they start eating Debra responded, “I’m starting to understand where she’s coming from, I can think of several moments when I’ve beat myself up for not coming up with that great idea or a more creative solution even though I worked my butt off.  It certainly was not pleasant and almost got me to quit my job in one occasion.  I’m with you Ana, as crazy as it sounds, and you’ll have to send me that link of the Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED Talk so I can check it out.”  She then took a bite of her food then after making a face of disgust she says, “You know I could have used that Genius when deciding what to order, this plate is horrible”.  They both had a laugh then Debra called over the waiter. – end of story

There are two main things going on in this story.  The first is in regards to overcoming fear.  I talk often about this because fear can be very limiting and in deed can and will rob us of many opportunities.  So when I feel there is another angle to cover on it, I will make sure to do so.  In this case it has to do with how our body reacts.  The chemicals that our body releases for excitement and fear are the same, so our body doesn’t know the difference.  And when you think about it, you’ll realize you experience the same basic sensations when you’re excited or afraid.  This allows us to be able to shift the emotion from afraid or nervous to excited which will not only allow us to be able to go through with that thing we were afraid of, but actually end up with a pretty good outcome.  And you might think this is easier said than done, but I can tell you from experience that it works.  Ana’s story about her presentation is actually based on a true story.  When I was in college I took an art class as an elective.  For the final exam we were asked to pick a painting and share our thoughts about it in front of a large crowd.  I couldn’t go through it, decided not to show up, and failed the class.  Fast forward several years later, I volunteered to speak at a Management Convention.  I was able to go through it and was actually one of the highlights of the evening.  So I can tell you this works, and the more you put it to practice the better you’ll get at it.

The other point made in the story has to do with our creativity.  I highly recommend watching Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED talk if you haven’t already, you’ll find the link to the video below.  She focuses on people that have a profession that requires high levels of creativity: an author, musician, artist, etc.  As an Engineer, I can tell you that this doesn’t only apply to these professions; it applies to all professions in my opinion.  I’ll link this to Seth Godin’s book, Linchpin, where he talks about how to be indispensable in the workplace, how to be someone your organization can’t be without.  If we want to be an indispensable employee then you have to do more than what is simply asked of you, to go above and beyond, and this requires a certain level of creativity.  So unless you don’t care for being indispensable, for being a Linchpin, there is pressure on being creative in all professions.  But the bottom line is, don’t beat yourself up if you don’t always have that very creative solution or great idea, just worry about doing your best and reflecting and learning from the failures.  Eventually you will hit a homerun.  Remember, you have a better chance of finding a great tasting apple in an apple orchard than in a corn field.  Surround yourself with as much content as you can that pertains to that idea you’re trying to come up with and it will increase your chances of success.  And if at first you don’t succeed, don’t worry, the Genius will get tired of seeing you fail and will show up eventually!

Link to Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED Talk: Click here