How Speaking in Public Made Me a Better Entrepreneur

Facing your fears means becoming a better leader.

Ever since I found my purpose in life, I like to tell many folks that I feel like Superman. As soon as my eyes open every morning, an extreme sense of urgency overcomes my body to get up, own the day and make things happen.

But as you all know, even Superman has his weakness.

Public speaking has been my kryptonite for a very long time now. The first time I ever spoke in public, I suffered a severe anxiety attack. It was an awful experience and something that stuck in the back of my mind ever since. I also believed that public speaking was the main thing holding me and our company back from reaching our full potential.

The opportunity to overcome this fear came when I received a cold call one morning from the president of the Alabama Real Estate Association. He invited me to come and share the story of how I started my company, Ohio Cashflow. My mind started racing. I did my best to spit out a response, “Well, I am not a public speaker. I can be very raw and rude sometimes.”

None of it worked. I reluctantly accepted the invitation and thought that I would have to make up an excuse, as I had three months until the event to plan one. As the event started getting closer and closer, my mind started to race and play tricks on me. The thought of public speaking haunted me every evening as I tried to go to sleep.

Read more from Engelo at StartupCollective.com.

#publicspeaking #entrepreneurship #entrepreneur #business #gettingstartedwithrealestate #speaking #fear #anxiety #overcomingobstacles #StartupCollective #YEC