I did it! I completed my panel speaking at Fan Expo Toronto!
Due to the sheer size of the event, I already had a much larger audience than the one I spoke to in July (more about that in my podcast episode on what it was like to speak publicly at an event.).
And with the larger audience came a more diverse range of feedback. Some people praised my panel, others asked compelling follow-up questions. Even some people who didn’t agree with the content of my panel stayed afterward and we had a good dialogue about what it takes to break into the publishing industry.
And some people….were just not feeling it.
This comment was left about my panel on the Fan Expo Canada app.
Did it hurt? You bet it did.
Does it make me want to improve? Absolutely.
Sure, my initial reaction is to crawl into a hole and never do public speaking again.
But then I remember that I’m new at this. I should be thankful to get ANY sort of feedback.
This is only the second time I’ve ever spoken at an event like this.
I’ll admit it: I’m not an expert yet. I’m not that good. You might even say that this stage in my journey…I kinda suck at it, as confirmed by the above statement.
But you know what? It’s alright. I have to start somewhere. If I was amazing at this right out the gates, I’d have no reason to learn how to get better.
And that’s what I intend to do. I already have some ideas on what I can tweak:
- I can trim down my video clips
- I can firm up my research
- I can take feedback – good or bad – in stride in an effort to improve
It would’ve been nice to get more constructive advice on how to improve, but I won’t let the bad review get me down.
I’ve got another panel in September. I might get a better response. I might still suck.
But that’s okay. I can’t get better unless I keep trying.