This week I had the pleasure of chatting to Speaking & Presence Coach, Amy Leighton, all about presenting yourself as an expert - and the awkward thoughts and feelings that can come with that. Nothing really gets that imposter syndrome raging quite like putting your hand up and saying "I'm the expert!"
Feeling like you're not good enough, the fear that you're going to be 'exposed' or 'found out' for not having a clue what you're talking about. And the comparisons that kick in and get you wondering - 'is there really enough room for me too?'
There are five types of imposter syndrome - and 'The Expert' is one of them. It's when you start measuring your capability based on how much you know about something. Feeling like you're not good enough until you know everything there possibly is to know about your specialist subject. And that just isn't possible - there's always going to be more for us to learn. But that doesn't mean you don't know enough!
So what can you do to push through this?
Give that negative voice a name! The inner critic, monkey chatter, whatever works for you. Naming it will help you to start to be able to distance yourself from it and recognise that that voice isn't you
Learn to recognise that negative voice when it creeps in and start to observe it, rather than buy into it...it might not go away but you can control how loud you let it get
Challenge it! If that voice is telling you you can't do something - find one piece of evidence - big or small - that proves you can!
And a really important thing to remember - not everyone knows what you know! Things that are obvious to you, aren't obvious to your audience. And if they are, they're not your ideal client.
If you want to hear more on this, check out my interview with Amy on her business page here!
My work is about more than just the practicalities of how to get featured in the press. As a qualified coach I also work with my clients to overcome these mindset challenges that creep up on us when we're pitching ourselves to such a big platform.
If you want to know more about how I can help you to manage these thoughts so you can present yourself as the expert you really are and start getting featured in the media, drop me an email and let's get a call booked in to see how we could work together.
To find out more about how I help female entrepreneurs become 'go to' experts in their field by securing media coverage, check out my website - www.skyeferguson.co.uk
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