Impostor syndrome:
A psychological condition that is characterized by persistent doubt concerning one’s abilities or accomplishments, accompanied by the fear
of being exposed as a fraud, despite evidence of one’s ongoing success.

— Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Onstage we're seen as scions of success, conveyors of confidence, and experts of the highest order. Yet, we have doubts, fears, and insecurities, like professionals in every field.

In this issue, six expert speakers, coaches, trainers, and authors weigh in with their own experiences with impostor syndrome and how to mute it.

Will You Ever Be Good Enough?
BY MARCIA REYNOLDS, PsyD, CSP

One of the greatest challenges you will face is to recognize you are good
at what you do.

Most people suffer from some form of impostor syndrome every
time they step out of their comfort zone. When writing your book or
before you step onstage, do you worry that people will question your expertise?

Maybe they have heard this all before and you won't provide anything
new. Whether you suffer from passing jitters or you live with the
fear of being seen as irrelevant, you experience some form of impostor
syndrome.

I live with an impostor syndrome, regularly overworking to prove
myself. My brain research has helped me keep going despite my fears.

A syndrome means there is a recurrent pattern of thinking that
is destructive. However, your brain developed this pattern not to harm
you, but to keep you from failure and ridicule. The brain’s most important
job is to keep you safe and healthy. It wants you to avoid anything that
feels dangerous or upsets your bodily functions.

OUTSMART YOUR BRAIN TO QUIET YOUR FEAR OF FAILURE

Like many other speakers, you have to manage your overprotective brain.
You may try too hard to be perfect, fearing any mistake will reveal you
aren’t good enough. Even if your speech was flawless, you remember
seeing the one sour face in the crowd. You leave the room vowing to find
another profession.

This pattern was imprinted when you were young. Your parents probably acknowledged you for what you did — schoolwork, sports, helping others — instead of who you are no matter what you do — courageous, smart, generous.

No matter how hard you tried, you never earned the acknowledgment
you craved. You never learned how to appreciate yourself. You only saw
what you lacked.

You can't make impostorism vanish. You need a mental crutch. Experts give tips such as focus on what you are learning, find the smiling faces in the room while ignoring those on their cell phones, and reframe your anxiety as enthusiasm.

I focus on my sense of purpose. Before I speak, I remind myself why I'm there and that if I make a difference for one person in the room, I have done a good job.

Your sense of purpose — what brings you joy in helping others — will give you the courage to rise out of the quicksand of unworthiness and doubt.

Whether you have a full-blown impostor syndrome or temporary fears when starting something new, remind yourself why you are making these choices and who you are at your core. Then keep going despite your fears.

MARCIA REYNOLDS, PsyD, CSP, is an expert on how to outsmart your brain and help others transform their thinking through coaching. She has four award winning books, has taught in 41 countries, and has reached thousands more online. Read more at Covisioning.com.

 

Knock Out Self-Doubt!
BY MAUREEN ZAPPALA

One In 1983, I was a new engineer at NASA in Cleveland, Ohio. Despite a degree from the University of Notre Dame, I felt out of place. Surrounded by real engineers and rocket scientists, I thought, "I'm not as smart as they are. I feel like a phony." It was impostor syndrome.
The impostor syndrome screams the loudest in times of transition,
such as job change or career shift. No wonder many professional
speakers secretly struggle with this. Making the transition from a past
career into speaking, from keynote to training, or from trainer to author creates self-doubt. Throw in a pandemic and the all-virtual world. Reinventing and pivoting is the petri dish for cultivating impostor syndrome.

This experience isn’t something you can cure, but you can manage it. With these four strategies, you can match your confidence to your competence so you can unleash more influence.

RECOGNIZE IT. Recognizing the symptoms of impostor syndrome is the first step in overcoming it. Common symptoms include:

1. Vacillating between overpreparing and procrastinating
   
   
2. Pursuing perfection or uniqueness
   
   
3. Not asking for help
   
   
4. Using charm or humor to deflect attention from your perceived intelligence shortfall
   
   
5. Intense fear of failure
   
   
6. Pressure to repeat or maintain success
   
   

REVERSE IT. Reversing your negative self-talk is essential. When you recognize you're experiencing a symptom, immediately capture that thought. Evaluate evidence to determine if it's helpful and true. If it isn't, act in opposition. For example, "If I ask for help, they’ll think I'm ignorant. Wait! Will they? I don’t think other people are ignorant if they ask for help. In fact, I think it's noble. Why then, would I assume they think I am ignorant? That's illogical. OK, I'll ask for help."

RE-PEOPLE IT. We tend to "compare and despair" our skills with those who appear more influential or successful, but the focus is wrong. We undervalue our character qualities like optimism, curiosity, resilience, kindness, resourcefulness, and generosity. Those helped get you where you are. Skills can be learned, but character qualities are developed over a lifetime. Give them the credit they deserve. Hold your head high when tempted to envy someone's skill or celebrity. You are neither superior nor inferior. Nobody is. We are all just different. Rethink your worth. Re-people it.

REINFORCE IT. To keep impostor syndrome from coming back, reinforce your defense. Collect any evidence of your competence, such as awards, testimonials, and media coverage. Or performance reviews. Believe them and enjoy them…frequently. It's not egotistical. You earned the recognition. Allow yourself permission to be impressed with your work.

MAUREEN ZAPPALA is the founder of High Altitude Strategies, a professional speaker, presentation skills coach, and author. She lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Learn more at maureenz.com.

Knock Out Self-Doubt!
BY PAUL N. LARSEN, MA, CPPC, MGSCC

"You’re a fraud!"

"You’re a fake!"

Those were my thoughts when I became the chief HR officer for a $3 Billion organization many years ago. I thought I didn't really deserve the job and that I had "faked my way to the top." And I thought at any point "someone" was going to tap me on the shoulder and say, "Paul, we realize that you really do not belong here, so we have to ask you to leave."

The irony was that the folks who would be responsible for "helping me move on" would be from my own HR department, the same team that I was leading!

Crazy thinking? Perhaps. But my impostor voice didn’t care … it was alive and well.

The impostor syndrome phenomenon was recognized in 1978 (Clance & Imes) and can slice across all genders, cultures, positions, and lifestyles. Up to 80% of top performers have admitted to experiencing it at one or more points in their lives. And many of us live with it more frequently. It thrives in our fixed mindset and feeds off of our fear and "what if?" thinking The late author Maya Angelou, actor Tom Hanks, former Starbucks chairman and CEO Howard Schultz, and tennis great Serena Williams all have admitted to feeling like a fake or fraud at some point in their successful careers. So it really is a badge of honor!

The impostor voice comes alive when someone who is successful actually uses their confidence to convince themselves they aren’t good enough and fears they will be discovered as a fraud. This is despite all external evidence that they’re doing a fine job. It isn't just self-doubt or a lack of confidence. It’s the gap between who you see yourself as being and who you think you need to be in order to be successful.

Call out impostor voice! Understand the energy in your environment that triggers it. Don't fight it because it loves conflict or friction. Dilute it with awareness and gratitude.

Employ my five-step C.R.A.C.K. method to hack Impostor syndrome:

1. Be CONSCIOUS of your impostor voice: "OK, I can feel it …
this is my impostor speaking."

2. RELEASE it. "No thanks impostor, I'll take it from here."

3. AUTHOR a reframed thought. "I do belong with this group of talented speakers because I have a unique point of view to share."

4. CHOOSE purposefully to access these reframed thoughts whenever your impostor voice is triggered.

5. Give KUDOS to yourself for the dedicated effort you are making
to dilute your impostor voce.

PAUL N. LARSEN, MA, CPPC, MGSCC, is the author of the award winning book Find Your VOICE as a Leader.™ As a successful mental fitness coach, educator and speaker, he loves to help people crack their impostor code all over the world. Contact Paul for his free Impostor Syndrome Assessment at PaulNLarsen.com.

From Impostor to Authentically Me
BY ERSULA K. ODOM

As I crawled from under my shell to ponder the notion of the impostor
syndrome dilemma, it felt familiar. I remembered moments when I faced
that fear and slayed that dragon. When given an opportunity to portray
the legendary Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, I searched for and found
perfect facts and stories for my script. Upon discovering a recording of her
voice, I realized I sounded nothing like that voice. The technology of her
time had distorted her voice, making it extremely high-pitched. That,
combined with her pace, diction, and speech patterns, meant our voices
were worlds apart. I was traumatized.

Yes, I could emulate the distorted voice I heard, but it would destroy my
voice. As I stood before people, realizing that I did not sound like her, I felt
like an impostor. Then, the facts about her life that intersected mine provided the solution. One, my grandmother could have been her daughter, for she was born within a year of Dr. Bethune’s son, in South Carolina, and with the same cultural influence. I found comfort when I recalled Grandmother’s words and South Carolinian tone, hearing her say “19-ought-4” for 1904, and concluded Dr. Bethune probably also said it that way. Believing such, I found my legs and decided to portray the “essence” of her. Now, I strongly say "19-ought-" when I reach that point in my production: Bethune-Cookman University was founded by Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune on October 3, 1904.

Explaining why I was hired for my first supervision job, I was told I was
uncommonly task- and people-oriented. I could get the job done and
work with people. That explained why my chosen activities, from computers
to drama, often seemed like polar opposites. This was a source of
distress when I often heard, " focus on one thing and do that." Well, to
me, that was boring. It still is. I found salvation when I realized everything
I had ever done led to today.

ERSULA K. ODOM is a legacy writer for Sula Too Publishing and the author of several books. She grew up in Georgia and now lives in Florida, where she portrays Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune and is a docent at the Tampa Bay History Center.

 

Change the Channel!
BY DR. JOANN DAHLKOETTER

Do you ever:

• Become so anxious before an event that it hinders your performance
  significantly?
  
  
• Experience feelings of inadequacy or doubt that you deserve to be successful?
  
  
• Suspect your achievements are due to luck, good connections, or just
  being in the right place at the right time

As a clinical psychologist and performance consultant, I’ve coached Olympic gold medalists and elite keynote speakers for years. Those who consistently perform well found ways to re-channel negative thoughts, take charge of their emotions, and turn nervous energy into a powerful source of inner strength and confidence.

They train for the pressure as well as for the event. Here’s how you
can too.

CHANGE THE CHANNEL. When you hear that negative inner voice
saying What am I doing here? What if they see I’m incompetent? just like
a radio, you can change the channel in your brain. Switch the channel
from that “Impostor” voice to your own "Confidence Channel."

TURN DOWN THE VOLUME. Once you've changed the channel, turn
down the volume on that old negative inner critic channel and turn
up the volume on your new positive self-image channel. Hear that awesome
speech you can give as a result of your new channel that you created.

FOCUS ON POSITIVE IMAGES. Use positive mental images throughout your day to create feelings of confidence and power as you practice your speaking skills. For example, while preparing your speech, replace What if I mess up? Will I forget my lines? with visualizing yourself having all the resources and calmness you need to deliver your talk and get great results.

USE POWER WORDS. Say what you do want. Don't say what you don't want. Replace Don't crash, don’t be nervous, don’t worry about what others are thinking. Say Just relax, I trust in my training, I'm preparing for this speech the best way I can. If you are rejected by a client or lose a speaking deal, ask What can I learn from this? What IS working? How can I use this to move forward with my next client?

PRACTICE PRESENT FOCUS. Practice being in the present moment. Be right on—right here—right now. Remind yourself to stay in the here and now. Let past mistakes and future concerns—What will this mean for my speaking career?—fade into the background.

DR. JOANN DAHLKOETTER, author of Your Performing Edge, is an
internationally recognized licensed clinical psychologist and performance consultant who has worked with five Olympic gold medalists and more than 100 Olympian clients and keynote speakers. She provides coaching for speakers for optimal mind-body performance. Learn more at DrJoAnn.com.

An Improvisor's Approach to
Getting Past the Impostor Syndrome!
BY SUE WALDEN

True, you are NOT the world's foremost expert on your topic. And,notice that the world’s foremost expert is not there, otherwise theywould be speaking. Ergo, you are the expert in this moment. So, obviously you have something to offer that people want to hear.

As a professional improviser for more than 30 years, let me describe
several useful techniques that enabled me to speak as an "expert" on many topics that I was assigned over the years.

BREATHE! Shallow breathing activates the fight/flight/freeze mechanism. Before I start, I take a couple of belly-chest breaths, then one more, right before I utter my first word. This slows me down and pulls my attention out of my head and into my body, grounding and relaxing me.

BELLY-CHEST BREATHING. Split the inhale into two parts: first
half in through the nose, filling the belly. Complete the inhale through
the mouth, filling the chest. Exhale out the mouth. Practice a few times
to find the halfway point in the inhale.

I follow the axiom “Do the behavior and the attitude will follow.” Here are behaviors that always helped me move past feeling/thinking like an impostor.

First and foremost, SEE INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE—don’t just look at them. Talk to them and notice their reactions before moving on to someone else. I watch
for nods, smiles, and any eyebrow movement. This feedback is especially important online.

ENERGY FORWARD. If standing, keep your knees unlocked and your weight on the front half of your feet. If seated (or in front of your screen), lean slightly forward with both feet on the floor and equal weight on your feet and bottom.

HANDS FREE. Clutching anything increases tension and reinforces impostor thoughts. Relax, drop your shoulders, and leave your hands free for gesturing.

LISTEN TO YOURSELF. If my attention is on my thoughts, I give power to worries, concerns, and accusations of what a phony I am. Or, if I'm searching for what I plan to say next, I mentally disconnect from both my listeners and what I am saying. Instead I pay attention to what I am actually saying to someone—this keeps more authentic energy in my face, in my voice, and in my content.

Side note reminder for virtual speaking: Use only brief bullet points, no scripts!

When you pull your attention away from any unproductive thoughts that unconsciously undermine your behaviors, you’ll become an effective expert-in-the-moment.

SUE WALDEN facilitated, directed, and performed in improvisational theater for 30 years, then in 1980 also became a pioneer in applied Improvisation. She’s delivered customized programs in 15 countries. She currently focuses virtually on design consulting and assisting speakers to access their authentic spontaneity. Learn more about ImprovWorks! at improvworks.org.