Saturday, January 21, 2012

Terror

It has been a bit since I had to do something professionally that is brand new .. something I've never done before .. something that has been know to cause an intense panic attack!

I was asked to present to the Board of Directors for my company on some new initiatives I've been tasked with.  They first asked a few months ago, but it just never came together until last week .. at a 6am Board Meeting!

I have presented before hundreds of people, and I don't really get too nervous anymore.  However, this was a new experience .. and there were a lot of high level people in the room.  Upon walking into the room, the first thing I noticed was that there was no projector in the room. Ummm .. how does one give a presentation without a projector?  More importantly, what idiot doesn't print the presentation so you have an outline of what you wanted to say in the event there is not a projector in the room.

PANIC .. SHEER, HEART-POUNDING PANIC!
I'm starting to thinking about running for the door and claiming food poisoning.
I found a long term VP that I've known for a long time and asked about the projector.
Come to find out .. they never use one.
These are things that might be nice to share with a first-timer.
I'm sure he could sense the sheer panic, as he proceeded to talk me off the ledge.
"Just do your thing .. talk to them .. where have we been .. what are we doing right now .. where are we going."


It is fair to say that the next 15 minutes occurred WAY OUTSIDE my comfort zone.  I haven't been that rattled for a long time.
On our way out, I joked to my friend,
"Dorothy is NOT in Kansas any more!"
Then I ran to my hotel room to call my husband so he could appreciate my looking like a complete idiot!!

After my heart rate returned to normal and I could think through the moment ..
I realized how good this was for me. 
It is good to be challenged!
It is good to be stretched and pushed!
I need to do that more often ..
I need to intentionally find things that make me a little uncomfortable and force myself to engage it!


I got a note later from one of the board members ..
complimenting me and pointing out how calm and collected I was for a first time presenter.
HA! HA!  Who says I'm a terrible actor when it comes to hiding my emotions behind this expressive face??!!
TAKE THAT!!






1 comments:

rawemoments said...

Oh Heidi, I felt for you as I read your post, I have dreams where I am supposed to talk in church and forget about it until I get there...ugh (my step-dad David actually did do that when we visited)! Great job keeping calm on the outside, you are an awesome lady and should be proud of yourself! :) Miss you!