Today I want to introduce Megan, another tapping and IEP success story.
After participating in my Overcome Public Speaking Anxiety webinar series, Megan overcame her public speaking anxiety enough to present a short talk at my recent Perth workshop. You can see the video of that talk below where Megan also gives some great tips on tapping to overcome your fears.
What makes Megan's talk so wonderful is knowing where she started from with this issue and also that, in overcoming her speaking fears, she's also started to step out in many other areas. Megan is now one of our Advanced Energy Practitioners, and has also made great leaps forward in her business and life.
After (or before) watching the video you may wish to read an overview of Megan's public speaking story which is included below it.
Megan's public speaking success story:
Back in November last year, I (Steve Wells) offered a free webinar on tapping for public speaking anxiety and invited people to write me with their problems, questions and issues. Megan wrote: "I feel fear when someone mentions me talking to a group of people. Straight away I say 'No way!"
She then gave a long list of things she was scared of, which were different aspects of her fear, such as: worry that she wouldn't have something interesting to say, not looking good, forgetting something, scared they won't like me, being asked a question she didn't know the answer to, and so on. At the end of this list of fears Megan wrote, "If I was dedicated, I would sit here and tap on these observations. Though if I do, I may end up being comfortable doing talks and I am not comfortable with that!"
My wife Louise, who recently overcame her own public speaking anxiety to speak at a conference, was moved to write to Megan. Here's some of what she wrote:
"It feels like you are telling my story! All my fears were very similar. And it appears that is the case for MOST people! I avoided situations all my life if there was a chance I may have to speak in public...
More recently, I was really feeling that NOT speaking about my artwork was holding me back. It was this strong desire to “get over” this that pushed me forward. I could have said no way to the offer of presenting at the conference as I would have in the past but I knew I would have this deep down regret and disappointment...
...what I want you to know from my experience is that it really doesn’t matter if you fear public speaking as long as it is not stopping you from doing what you really want to be doing in your life.
20 years ago Steve dragged me along to Anthony Robbins Sydney 3 day workshop and one of the main things was to do a fire walk on the Friday night, other than the massive fear of doing that, I don’t really think it did much for me. Overcoming my fear of public speaking though has changed my life!"
Megan signed up for the webinar series and participated actively. After tapping and using my new Intention-based Energy Process (IEP) on some of the different aspects of her fear, she started to open up to possibilities and even volunteered to do a talk at her local camera club. Before the talk she had to do lots of tapping on all kinds of negative thoughts and aspects that came up, and she recorded these in a diary so she could track her progress. After doing this she felt ready and was able to do the talk.
After succeeding at the camera club talk, Megan then saw an opportunity (amazing what we open to when we let go some of our inner resistance) to apply for a scholarship for an online business training. However, she had to apply by producing a short video of herself! At the time, this terrified her, and she wrote me, "I don't know what I was thinking!" But she signed up and made the video, with lots of tapping along the way. From starting out with a terrible tight feeling in her chest and being "horrified" with her first efforts, eventually she even got to a point where she was able to enjoy it! As she wrote to me after this experience:
"Without all the tapping and public speaking contemplation, I know I would never have even let the thought enter my head. I am so amazed to have done this. Whoo hoo."
What's even better is that Megan's willingness to take this step then inspired others. As she wrote to me later:
"I asked a friend to come to Pingelly and talk about his passion for cameras and photography to our group. Before the talk he said don’t expect too much as he isn’t good at speaking in front of lots of people. He gave his talk very well, off the cuff and like a chat with friends. I thought it was great.
Next day he said he had never done that before because he was scared to do it. It was because he saw my video and overcoming public speaking fears that he thought “If Megan can give it a go, so can I”. That was so great to hear that we helped him to move on. The people in the group have sparked his enthusiasm for photography again and he has new friends. They all want him to come back."
This reminds me of that great quote from Marianne Williamson: "As we are liberated from our own fear, Our presence automatically liberates others." Our example inspires others too, maybe more so.
Soon after this, I offered a Tap Your Power workshop in Perth, and Megan wrote (after much tapping) requesting to come along as my workshop assistant. I agreed, and said it would be a great opportunity for her to do a talk to show how far she'd come on her public speaking journey. She said yes, and this video is the result. I'm sure you'll agree it's fantastic, especially from someone who said back at the beginning she could never talk on tapping because "there are too many people who are more expert". I'm sure you'll agree that her tapping advice, coming as it does from personal experience, is valuable and helpful.
Below is what Megan wrote to me recently about her public speaking journey:
I have wanted to be able to speak in front of groups for quite a few years. It has been on my goal list each year, but it has been left on the bottom, neglected because it didn’t feel achievable. For me, doing a small amount of tapping wasn’t enough. I needed to dig deeper. When Steve offered a program to overcome public speaking fears, I still had it as a vague goal, I didn’t need it for work or have a particular reason to do it. I was just ready to do some more tapping.
I became more frightened to get up and talk in front of people as the years went on. Being a Captain at tennis required someone to speak and give out trophies, and I always made sure someone else did it. We needed master of ceremonies for Bowen, but I would NEVER have even thought about it. I am the person that sits in the back row, quietly and only speak when spoken to. My gut reaction to any request to speak would be ‘no way’...
However, once I had done some tapping I took one step, did many hours more tapping and took another step, many hours more tapping, writing and practising for another step. Some of my negative thoughts which I tapped on were: I am not interesting enough, I have to be perfect, they won’t like me, I will look silly, I am too serious, I need to be professional, I don’t know enough, I have a persona to uphold, I might stumble, I am not strong enough, I might forget what to say, I might not know the answer to a question, I might succeed, they might want me back all the time … I don’t have time, I need to look good. I also asked some ‘What if?’ questions: What if I wasn’t scared to talk? If it went very well? If my content was useful? If I knew exactly what to say? If they get excited? If they are smiling at me?
Megan also wrote the following about what tapping has done for her life:
Tapping has brought me to calmness, understanding, development and independence. I haven’t cured the world of cancer or performed the greatest song in the world. But I have sat with my father to ease his passing from this life. I have dried my boys’ tears and supported them, and helped my friend in times of trouble by listening and understanding instead of judging and offering unwanted advice. My local community have benefited from the skills I have gathered along the way during my tapping journey so far, because I am willing to share and offer a helping hand. My family now get a mum and wife who isn’t suffering resentment, anger and negativity on a daily basis. I am living a happy life, free to do the things I love and discover new adventures. Do it, own it, live it.