You need a few tips to eliminate fear before you pitch?
Last week my #100Pitches book release, workshop, and high-end industry networking event, toured to Atlanta, Georgia and it was so amazing! But, I have to admit, I was really nervous for some reason. I experienced these same feelings before my New York event. For the first time in my entire life, (and I've been on stages in some capacity since I was 11), I experienced a feeling in my stomach that was unexplainable, but I'll try to explain. It felt like I had nervous flu symptoms and at the same time I was suffering from hunger. You know how your stomach feels when you are extremely hungry and any bad smell makes it feel horrible? Weird, I know! But the mix of those two feelings is what I experienced due to nervousness.
Afterwards, I thought about why I was feeling such nervousness and concluded that ultimately, I was pitching myself (I'm The Pitch Guru after all), my knowledge of pitching, my understanding of the industry, and my book to a room full of content creators with all levels of industry knowledge, as well as, decision makers who hear pitches and green-light project's all the time. No wonder I was nervous!
The only thing that helped to eliminate my nerves were to do these 5 simple steps. Some of the steps I did several times as my symptoms started the day before the event. The night was better than I expected, (everyone said so)!
(L to R: GlenNeta Griffin; Get TV Ready, Keith Neal and Eric Tomosunas; Swirl Films, Ramona Debreaux; V-103, Wayne Overstreet; Overstreet Productions and Post, Me 😊, Tracey Tooks; UP Tv, and Tina Thompson; Aspire TV Network)
I want to share these 5 simple steps with you because I understand that many of you prefer to be unseen, and are scared out of your mind to actually sell the project's you've spent so much time creating. I hope these 5 tips help you overcome your nervousness to pitch. Remember you can spend 30 minutes just before your meeting doing these 5 steps! Good luck.
Here are five tips to eliminate fear before you pitch!
1. Affirmations – create affirmations for your success, worth, value, career, and your pitch meeting. They should all be stated in the present tense and not past or future tenses.
2. Visualize – see yourself pitching. Visualize from the moment you walk through the doors. Then see yourself feel how it feels to be green-lit!
3. Quick breathing – breathe quick short breaths while pumping your fist in the air. This works especially if you use it right before pitching. This will help you release all of the nervous energy with each breath and fist pump.
4. Guided success meditation – You tube has some really great meditations you can follow along with. You can start there or use the Headspace app.
5. Practice doing your pitch to yourself in the mirror! It gives you someone to deliver your pitch too. This really works well!
Let me know how this goes!