Pitching, presenting and pimple patches?

“What on earth is that on her face?!” my brain screeched at me, whilst the young barista patiently waited for me to choose between the Cortado and the Cappuccino - a queue of lunchtime businessy-looking folk behind itching to get their caffeine fix

A friendly smile, nod, and the young girl spun on her heels displaying the most luscious brown flowing locks clasped at the nape of her neck with a blue crushed velvet scrunchie. Seconds later the metallic coffee machine shudders into action. A low mechanical hum, rattling and enough steam to rival The Flying Scotsman, yet before I know it I am the proud owner of one skimmed milk cappuccino - with the chocolate sprinkles on top!

But before I could skip along on my merry way, I needed to take a sneaky second glance at my wonderful roast-master to make sense of what I had seen. A small purple sticker in the shape of a star took pride of place upon her right cheek. It wasn’t a mistake. This was an intentionally placed fashion item.

Now, up until this point, I had considered myself still fairly ‘in the loop’ with the fashion trends…mainly because most of the shop windows in the Trafford Centre are starting to resemble my 90’s wardrobes again, inducing a low-rise-jean PTSD I thought had been buried under the mom-jean era!

But this one. This was new to me!

Spot patches! Ahhhh of course! A brief flashback to a spam Instagram-advert of these little star stickers designed to help heal spots, after searching for ‘mid 30’s hormonal acne remedy’ (in hindsight, I’m not sure I was the target audience), and now it all made sense.

I smiled with a sense of ironic understanding,

I remember the towels in my family bathroom back when I was a teen, each discoloured with bleach from where they had made fatal contact with the latest prescribed ‘acne cream’ … or as I now understand it - industrial grade paint stripper sold on the NHS black market.

Or sneaking my Maybelline concealer into my pencil case so that during break times I could add another layer to my teen-skin in a desperate attempt to hide the evidence of puberty.

Hell, I even recall trying to style my hair like Avril Lavigne to cover as much facial area as possible, only to look more Wednesday Addams than Sk8er Boi!

How the times have changed. For the best I’d say.

Has the world gone so far with ‘perfection’, that we are craving uniqueness?

Either way, yes, my Barista was still covering her ‘imperfections’, but at least she was owning these. I’d call that progress.

That afternoon was spent working with a fantastic team exploring all things public speaking.
 One by one, the delegates came to the front of the room, delivered their short presentation, and then gave each other constructive feedback, praise and encouragement.

The majority of feedback so far was centred around the pace of delivery, managing nerves, fidgeting and eye contact…
Then it was Kim’s turn.

She shot out of the gate at 100mph, visibly nervous and frantically shooting her gaze down to what seemed to be her left trouser pocket.
Naturally my eyes followed hers to reveal a small yellow piece of card gripped between her thumb and forefinger, hidden just to the side of her leg.
Her notes.

Every other line, like a scolded child, Kim would drop her head, searching for comfort, support and reassurance from this small scrap of paper, her only lifeline to get through the next paragraph.

At the end of her presentation, Kim sprinted back to her seat. As a group we praised her courage and commitment for putting herself out there, and I gently enquired into the yellow piece of card.

A rosy flush covered Kim’s face as she shuffled in her chair and looked down to the ground as if asking the weathered carpet for an answer.

I asked if I could see the paper, and Kim hesitantly passed me the small rectangle, with no more than four bullet points on, each with a few words jotted next to them.

I didn’t need to look up, I could almost hear the confusion.

Addressing the group - mainly as I was concerned Kim’s blood pressure was so high at this point and I really didn’t need a first aid accident report adding to my to-do list - I highlighted how short, sharp notes are absolutely fine if they are going to help you feel more calm and be able to deliver with ease.

The issue here was that by hiding the notes, like a small child hiding the pet snail it has collected from the garden, it became the only thing we can focus on!

Questions arose regarding notes and speculation around looking less credible - yet as a group we came up with several examples where we had seen notes being used in presentations without a second thought. Some people actually gave examples whereby the speaker having the notes gave a greater sense of preparation, care, integrity and dedication.

Now at this point I have to mention - when I say notes, I mean bullet points, facts, data, short sharp one liners. Reading from an entire script like some GCSE drama audition is NOT what I am saying … I won’t go into it here but that is an absolute no-go for several reasons!

Then my mind flashed back to my morning coffee and the purple spot sticker.

In front of me sat 20 women in senior professional roles with over 500 years of industry experience between them, anxious to hold a piece of paper through fear of judgement and perception. A piece of paper which would support them in delivering key messages vital within their role. Yet only hours ago, I was being served by a young girl who flat out owned her evolving skin, actively drawing more attention to it!

YES!

This is self assurance and intention we need to bring to the corporate world.

I’m not suggesting douse your que cards in glitter, feathers and play a theme tune, but if the younger generation can own their imperfection with style, then we sure as hell can hold a piece of paper with confidence and conviction.

I guess it’s all in the HOW. How you show up, how you deliver, how you hold yourself and how you respond to challenges and situations.

Call out the elephant in the room, expose it, adopt it and make it your elephant.

With this new found strength, you will be able to own your space, hold your own and maybe, just maybe inspire those around you to do the same!