Fear and dissapointment; we are all our own worst critics.

Yesterday I had a chance to audition for a band. The drummer sent me a list of songs in advance, which I loaded on my shuffle, listened to, learned and practiced. I had the to-be-expected butterflies all day yesterday, but I've auditioned dozens of times, and usually my performance exceeds my practice. Not so yesterday. Granted, some of the songs were outside my vocal range, others outside my comfort range, but still it was a humbling experience.

It makes me think of some of my clients and their fear of public speaking and feelings of inadequacy about their own presentations. Do they feel like they're not measuring up, despite lots of positive feedback? Who's view is more accurate, the presenter's or the audience's?

I'm giving my performance yesterday a "C". For a life long ham, that's a dissapointing grade. I'll give it lots more practice and look into getting some help. And be way more sensitive to my clients' impressions of their presentation performance. I'll also try and measure the opinions of the other band members against my own assessment. We are, after all, our own worst critics.