When I posted this reel, my main concern was getting over the 'cringe' I felt. Then, the reel hit over ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ views, numerous shares, comments and private messages in such a short period of time. ๐
Turns out, my concern was unfounded. It wasn't about me. It was about people relating to what I was sharing.
โจ ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป '๐ฒ๐
๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ' ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป.
โจ ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐บ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป๐ (๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐, ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐น).
โจ ๐๐ ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฒ๐
๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ-๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฟ๐ผ๐น๐ฒ, ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ณ๐๐น๐น๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ธ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐, ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ, ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐๐น๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ.
๐๐ปโโ๏ธ STORY TIME: When I auditioned for my correspondent and presenter role at Euronews / NBC News, I remember walking into the office half an hour early and quietly sitting down in the waiting area. I was observing how they worked. I wanted to feel settled in the environment. I said hello to anyone who walked by, but mostly kept to myself as I mentally focused on the task at hand: nailing that audition.
I was given my topicโat the time, French President Emmanuel Macron was trying to push through reforms that triggered widespread protests. I was given a few minutes to gather my thoughts. The director gave me the countdown in my earpiece and off I went.
One of the NBC execs that hired me later told me that he was initially surprised at how different I seemed to a lot of "media types," but as soon as I started talking on camera, he said to those around him, "๐ก๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ๐."
There are certain skills, character traits, competence levels that will get us far in our careers. But that doesn't include having to be someone you're not. If you're an introvert, that's a NEUTRAL fact about you, and it's up to you to make it a STRENGTH regardless of external circumstance.
I noticed a lot more people talking about introversion and as a lifelong hashtag#introvert, I welcome the conversation around this. What I'd love to see are good people thriving regardless of how they define themselves and workplaces more inclusive and aware of different communication styles.
A former boss once said in an editorial meeting, "It doesn't matter if you're the main presenter, the intern, the camera guy or the technician. If you have a brilliant idea, share it in a meeting or privately. And to the rest of the team, ๐๐๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ก. You never know where the next brilliant idea will come from."