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It wasn’t all that long ago when I was terrified of standing in front of an audience to talk about my books. In fact, I even wrote a post about it in 2016. But part of being a successful author is participating in at least some public events, and while I don’t think I’ll ever completely conquer the nerves that go with that, it has gotten easier. So much so, that I’m now being asked to do presentations and workshops. This month I’ve got two based on Finding YOUR Path to Publication, the first at Algoma University in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, where I now live, and the second via Zoom for the Desert Sleuths in Arizona (where, quite frankly, I’d rather be in person given our seemingly never-ending winter this year). In May, I’ll be instructing a two-part workshop at the Sault Ste Marie Public Library on Self-publishing based on my how-to guide Self-publishing: The Ins & Outs of Going Indie.
The moral of this story? Conquer your fears and you never know what doors will open. After all, opportunity will only knock if it thinks it can find a way inside.
Readers: What fear have you conquered and what was the positive result of that?
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Judy, one great fear (because I have vertigo) was the high dive at the community pool when I was in high school. One day I just sucked up my courage, climbed the many, many steps up the ladder, and jumped. Next thing I knew, I was diving, then more of a swan dive, and then back dives. It was such a freeing feeling to be floating in air while knowing I would hit the water and swim off. I later became a swim instructor and had many years of free-floating in the air for those precious seconds.
What a great story Claire! Thank you for sharing!
Empowering post, Judy. THANK YOU!
Kind of you to say, Pamela! Thank you.
Thanks for sharing your story Armand. And thanks for registering!
Way to go, Judy! Your presentations sound terrific.
I conquered the fear of teaching; in my early days of being an instructor at a college, I wondered if I had it in me to deliver meaningful learning opportunities for the students. Thanks to a counsellor friend and good colleagues, I faced my fears, understood I was not alone, and stepped into the role with renewed confidence and an appreciation that every class is a new opportunity to get something right that didn’t go so well the last class. I now love teaching.