Presentations and The Butterfly

If you’ve ever watched a butterfly emerge from a cocoon before, you know it looks like one heck of a struggle. It takes the little guy (or gal) a long, long time to get free, and it seems like someone could just come along and give that cocoon a little rip and make life so much easier for the creature.

But guess what happens when you do? The butterfly isn’t totally done with its conversion from being a caterpillar when it starts to emerge. The emergence is part of its final development. When you make the emergence easier, the butterfly will become deformed, weak and incapable of survival in the wild. Once free, it will never be able to replicate the strength-building parameters of the cocoon. Butterflies don’t have gyms.

The same is true with people…and presenters. So often we want relieve from struggle. So often we want life to be easier. But, without the struggle, we don’t have the internal strength to support the responsibilities and influence we desire. One of Gandhi’s 7 Things that Will Destroy Us was wealth, without work. We’re bad about coveting the fruit without valuing the tree. All good things have their origins in great effort. If there’s no great effort, chances are it’s not truly good and we can expect it to be very short-lived.

One of the things we see holding presenters back most often is a fear of going it alone. When we’re young, we think professional life consists of a few months’ worth followed by senior managers calling us in and dumping responsibility and money in our laps. In reality, we often chart our own development, justifying the ask but ultimately advancing on our own initiative and vision. Just like our career opportunities, presentation opportunities are often sought out by the presenter many, many times before the reverse is true and people seek the presenter. You have to be comfortably with going it alone. You have to take pleasure in the struggle to build your brand and credibility.

Early on, the venues and the audiences may not be so grand. But that’s ok. You’ll build your strength and ability and be ready for the next opportunity.

Don’t sit around waiting for someone to help you out of your cocoon. Push the limits of your ability and learn to embrace the struggle. Wealth, fame and glory are all just the icing on the cake. When you learn to value the struggle, you’ll have a level of confidence and happiness that no amount of money could ever replace.

Question: What are you struggling with professionally right now? How can you embrace it rather than trying to escape it?





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