Most of us don't panic or break out into a cold sweat each morning when we are trying to figure out what to wear for work or how to groom our hair. Why?

Because we have seen ourselves in the mirror many times in the past wearing a suit or dress that we thought flattered ourselves. We have seen our hair combed or our teeth brushed in a way where we felt we were putting our best foot forward to the world--not a perfect foot, or smile or head of hair, simply the best we could reasonably do, given what we had to work with. It's not that we all of a sudden are perfectly content with our wardrobe or our whole appearance, it's just that we are all so familiar with how we look and how we look our best because we look at ourselves in the mirror each day. It's virtually impossible for any sane person to freak out each and every morning before going to work over what clothes he or she may wear or how best to comb his or her hair.

Not only are you familiar with your image and how it evolves day in and day out, you also walk into your work each day knowing that you already know exactly how you are going to look to your colleagues (minus the back of your head and your posterior) because you checked yourself out in a mirror, possibly even a full-length mirror, before leaving home. If nothing else, you did a final check in your rear view mirror before you got out of your car in the office parking lot.

If you want to dramatically and drastically reduce your nerves before public speaking and present at a consistent high skill level, you must watch a lot of yourself on videotape. If you watch yourself enough, you will begin to develop a sense of what you like about your speaking. You will start to like certain things you do and say, even if it is only 10 percent of the time you are talking. But now you have a role model for yourself when you are speaking-and that role model is yourself.

So find your real role model in the mirror, video record yourself, pull out the popcorn, sit in front of the TV and start watching. It won't be a horror show, at least by the 10th time you've watched yourself.

~ TJ Walker

Upcoming Events

	Marketing with Video & Social Media Workshop New York, NY A one-day workshop on how to create simple, talking-head videos that will maximize your public relations effectiveness.
	TJ Walker's Remote Keynote - Delivered via Skype TBA Worldwide Want TJ Walker to keynote your event LIVE from New York? Technology is now possible - and it's easier than you may think. Learn more about booking TJ virtually.

Media Training Workshop

"MAKE THE MOST OF THE MEDIA"

February 11 &12
Media Training Workshop
New York, NY

(more dates available)