I, like many business owners, regularly attend business networking breakfasts.  As part of those breakfasts, I will make a one (1) minute presentation about what I do and the people and or businesses to which I would like an introduction.

In preparing for one of those presentations, I realised I did the same presentation each week and reflected I should change things up.

As a result, I decided to do a presentation which did not refer to my business.  I researched the date of the meeting to find out where it fell in the year, the birthstone attached to the day and what was being celebrated in the world on that day.  I also found four events that happened on the day.  My closing remarks were:

                       “My wish is that this day brings you much joy & prosperity in your life and your business”

 The night before the presentation I did not sleep well as I was fearful of what the reaction would be as no-one in my time attending these breakfasts had done anything like this before.  I imagined how I would react to the negative feedback from by those present for not following the usual format for the presentations.

Even in the moments leading up to the presentation, my doubts and fears surfaced, and I wondered whether it was going to be worth it.

Since I had nothing else prepared, I went ahead with the presentation as I had planned it.

Whilst I noticed quizzical expressions during the presentation, the resulting comments were supportive and positive. In fact, one of the later presentations even referenced my presentation.

My takeaway from this experience is that whilst the desire to belong and not to stand out from the crowd is hard wired, it remains my choice as to the actions I take in any given situation.