[David vs Goliath: Feeling Youre Not Good Enough? Read This...] I want to share an experience that helped me break my mental barriers not long ago when I was invited to speak an E-Commerce Conference. I didnt prepare much for the event as I was given vague requirements on what to present on my slides, and I did it just the night before. I drove to the hotel the next morning, to be greeted by the sight of VIPs, Datuks and Datins cutting ribbons for opening ceremony. Right away, I knew this speaking engagement was going to be unlike any from those I have done before. (Datuk is a federal title in Malaysia) The participants numbered no more than 100 people, but the attendance list was transparent: CEOs, upper management level from banks, and I recognize many of the company names. BIG names. Intimidating! The first roundtable talk of speakers came on stage with all the big, intelligent words they were throwing out accompanied by statistics after statistics. I was due for the Session 2. 15 minutes before our turn, I was in the VIP Room for a quick briefing by the forum moderator. That was when I found out who the other two speakers that will be sharing the stage: Vice President of Telekom, the leading telecomunnications company in our country, and the founder of iPay88, the leading payment processor in Malaysia. When the mod turned to me to shake my hands, he asked, Oh sorry, who are you? (Did I mention that I came here not knowing anyone?) I felt like I didnt belong there. I was beginning to wonder if I was the right speaker for the right event after all. And I came here only because I accepted the invitation from someone who happen to find me on LinkedIn somehow. My mind was racing and yes, I was planning what to say... while sitting on stage in front of the audience and the other two speakers have their go first. Its a no-pitch event but these guys are already renowned and almost all of Malaysia know or use their service. Me? Who the hell am I? Just some work-from-home dude. Standing next to these giants, its like all my achievements up to that day amounted to nothing. So what can I offer on stage? I was attacked by the little guy syndrome. As I studied the situation further, I found I had some openings. 1. From the start, all the speakers engaged the audience in a 1-way communication. There was surprisingly no interaction with the audience until now, evidenced by the lack of energy in the room and people playing with their phones. 2. All of the speakers up until now were using a lot of big, seemingly impressive words. I bet if we quizzed the audience, they wont even catch half of what the speakers are saying. 3. All content, no context! so I devised a plan to improvise my speech since I could not edit my slides anymore. I started off with a pattern interrupt: I asked the audience if they had a website or they dont. I realize it was a silly question but I got their attention for starters. Then I got to the next point: Have you ever always wondered even though you brand yourselves as leaders in E-Commerce and IT, but you seem to always be the last to know? At this point heads were turned. I went on with the rest of my presentation for the next 20 minutes. I did not share any statistics or hard facts; quite to the contrary I added a short story behind each main point in my presentation. And I kept my presentation deliberately in simple English. After the session, I was ready to leave after lunch... when I was gradually swarmed by the participants! Even more so than the other two (hey big guys, let me enjoy a bit yea? Hehe) Somehow, I got my first 2 clients for my online marketing consultancy from there - and that started off a new venture! So What Did I Learn From That Morning? 1. Dont sell yourself short. Many times that morning I told myself I wasnt good enough to hang out with the big guns and that I probably didnt have anything valuable to share since everyone else was seemingly better or smarter or more experienced than I was. I realize it truly is a confidence game, which leads to the next point... 2. As long as you know something most others dont, youre the expert! Sure there were highly experienced business owners in that hall, but when it comes to online marketing, I was the best person there. Bar none. 3. Look for openings. How many times have we told ourselves things like the market is saturated? and the small guys cannot make it here because the big guys took it all? Thats really limiting belief. If that was true, there should be no Google when theres Yahoo! and there should be no Facebook when there was MySpace and Friendster. By the same thought, I shouldnt have been there because there were other experts present. But I found openings in that hour where audience were not enrolled 100% and definitely not everyone understood good English. Lastly... 4. Dont apologize for who you are. I thought of making disclaimers about the simple nature of my slides and my business - then I threw that thought out of the hall. Ive always ran my online business on the premise of simplicity and low-cost, and theres nothing to be ashamed of those values. Theres more to the experience but you get the gist. The next time you think youre not good enough, or youre a small fry, or theres no room for opportunities... take a deep breath and observe around you. Look hard enough with your mind and you will see them!
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 04:01:18 +0000
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