How to Fly by Dumbo – how I overcame presentation anxiety by Kathryn Ebdon

We are about empowering you to get amazing results in your business.

Thank you Kathryn for sharing your inspirational story and we hope it inspires you too. 

Last Friday was one of those Eureka days, you know the ones, the days you acheive something you never expected you could.

On Friday I finally beat my presentation anxiety and spoke to around 150 people at a networking event, it wasn’t planned, I wasn’t prepared, I have no idea how I came over but right now I don’t care, that can all be fixed now I can manage the fear.

How did I do it? I have to give thanks to Mandie Holgate of The Business Woman’s Network for providing me with a safe environment to challenge myself and deal with my demons and also for introducing me to Mark Rhodes, Millionaire Mentor, positive thinker and NLP wizard.

This time, for the first time, as I walked up to the podium there was applause and it transported me to last year, when again, I’d been walking to a podium but it was to collect an environmental award at the 2009 Essex Business Awards for which I’d led the management team of my previous employers EPC-UK (Bramble Island). It was my moment, a positive experience, I was nervous but it was less crippling and maybe moving closer from blind fear to performance enhancing anxiety.

I believe that two things came into play for the first time on Friday, one, like Dumbo who thought a magic feather enabled him to fly, I have a magic feather in the form of my new business cards (a story for another time) and two, I was able to attach a positive emotion to public speaking.  Since then, in a Business Woman’s Network workshop I have had the opportunity to do my pitch in the worst environment possible, under attack from flying chocolate … the rumours are true, they really do fly!

I may never be a great orator like Obama but thanks to Business Woman’s Network, practice and the power of positive thinking I can do something many people will never have the courage to do, I’ve found my voice. I have always been a believer in the phrase “Feel the fear and do it anyway” if this rings a bell and you’re terrified you’re in great company, most people are, the thing that sets us apart is what we do with it, go for it, you’ll be glad you did.

Thanks to Business Woman’s Network, Ebdon Management Systems (www.ebdoniso.com) stands a chance of being a start up business which thrives rather than a statistic quoted about the number that don’t make it past their first year.

 Thanks Kathryn for this amazing story of getting out there and doing it!

If you would like to overcome your fears, why not join us on the 29th of September when Mark Rhodes will be empowering a room full of business women, and yes there will be flying chocolate and lots of great results – what will your story be?