A lot of my clients

are dealing with

social anxiety.

I don't know if this is

the COVID gift or if it's

just a sign of the times.

It's easy to sit on

our phones and it feels

like we're being social,

but the reality is that

we're all a little bit

more lonely than ever,

than ever.

I was curious about

how much time people

were spending on

socials, and so I did a

little digging around.

These are the

current stats.

42 hours a month on TikTok.

Wowzers.

I don't even know where

I'd find things on Tikitok,

but anyway, there you go.

21 hours a month on

YouTube and 20 hours

a month on Facebook.

That's a lot of times

being social, isn't it?

Per month.

Wowzers.

want to go back

to our friends who

struggle with anxiety.

They tell me that it

plays out in really

physical ways for them.

They get the excessive

sweats up, there's

trembling, and nausea.

That's They also tell me

that they feel like they're

being watched and judged

when they're out and about.

According to Beyond Blue,

social anxiety is

when you experience

intense anxiety about

situations or performing

in front of others.

You might fear being

criticized, laughed

at or humiliated

in front of others.

The stats are in and

you are definitely

not alone.

Beyond Blue tells

us that around 11

percent of Australians

experience social anxiety

during their lifetime

and around 7 percent

experience social anxiety

in any 12 month period.

That's a lot.

That's a lot.

The dilemma for business

owners is that networking

and meeting people is all

part of doing business.

So I wanted to see if I

could give you some super

practical tips on how to

navigate this, how to talk

about yourself and your

services, not in a braggy

kind of way, but so that

people know what you do.

Some of my clients find

it very difficult to go

to a conference, go to

professional learning

events, go to networking.

And I thought, hmm,

how do we help them?

How do we help them?

Now each situation

is really different

and is tailored for

those experiences.

But these are the top

tips that I give my

clients that seem to work.

So number one, if you

know you need to get out

and do some networking,

either start really small.

I mean, one on one small,

that would be perfect.

Or a small group

just before you jump

into a bigger group.

You don't go, Oh

yeah, I'll go to this

hundred person event.

No, no.

We just want to go to

a five or 10 or a one

on one smaller events.

I think sometimes being in

a smaller environment, it's

a bit more intimate and I

find that a bit more safe.

I love the smaller groups.

Although I run large

events, I love the smaller

groups because I get to

have deeper, meaningful

conversations with people.

Number three, prepare.

Make sure that before

you go to a networking

event you prepare a little

bit more than normal.

It doesn't mean you need

to prepare to the nth

degree, but a little

bit more than normal.

You might research the

other people that are

going, you might research

the actual event itself.

You know, there's so

many things that you

can do to prepare.

I hate an elevator

pitch, but having a

plan when someone you

what you do is great.

And here's my little

tip within a tip.

Did you know that the

tongue has memory?

So, when you're trying

to say something out

loud, repeating it

often, the tongue will

slip over the words that

don't sound natural.

And therefore, you've

got an opportunity to

change those words.

It's an enormous time

saver if you can just

repeat a couple of things.

I tried this out on my

10 year old last week.

She was going for

a leadership role

for next year.

And she said, "Mum, I'm

going to tell you my

speech three times."

I said, awesome.

First, go into the bathroom

and do the speech in front

of the mirror three times,

and then come and do the

speech with me three times.

by the time she had

done her sixth time,

she did it without any

kind of notes using her

tongue memory and she was

much more confident just

rehearsing a couple of

sentences out loud can't

be in your head out loud or

jotting it down on a post

it note just makes it a bit

easier there are a lot of

us who go to these things

and we get tongue tied know

how much to tell how little

to tell whether to tell all

the things so making a note

is always super helpful.

My fifth tip,

take a friend.

Telling your friend,

can you come with me

and can you help me out?

means that they're

a powerful ally.

Yeah.

But also saying to

them, I want to go

to this networking

event to meet people.

So we can't just

stand in a corner

between the two of us.

Right.

Although if you

have massive social

anxiety points for

getting out and about.

Number six, don't put

pressure on yourself

to meet as many

people as you can.

Meeting with one person

is an absolute win

in this situation.

Yeah.

Absolute win.

number seven is just be

kind to yourself, have

compassion with yourself.

There are really so

many benefits to pushing

yourself outside of

your comfort zone and

attending things alone.

If you can, it's a

great way to new people.

And PS, I always look for

the person that's on their

own because no one wants

to stand on their own.

So if you're the person

that saves them, wow, you

have a friend for life.

It's awesome.

to really grow that muscle

of networking so that

you know that you can do

it and you'll be okay.

You never know what

business connections

you might make.

There is a quote, I can't

remember who quoted it,

but there is a quote

that says something

like, you've survived

every day up until now.

And it is going to be true

whether you go networking,

whether you go to a

professional development

learning opportunity,

all the things.

Now, there is

always a caveat.

Of course, if you need

more support than just

these tips, if your social

anxiety is at a really

intense level, please get

the support that you need.

There are a myriad of

social workers, psychs

and counsellors out there.

I have a whole list.

So if you need something

like that, please let

me know, reach out to

me and I will point you

in the right direction.

I'm none of those things.

These are just tips

and things that I

help my clients with

day in, day out.

As I close off, I'd

love to set you up with

a bit of a challenge

if you're up for it.

There is a ton of

networking and Christmas

parties that go on, that

you could attend in your

own state, in your own way.

Why not pick one and

go with a friend?

Bonus points if

you go on your own.

Oh, and let me

know how it went.

Shoot me a DM

or a voice note.

I always love to hear from

you and what you tried and

what worked, but especially

what didn't work.

We don't need to take

ourselves too seriously

when we're doing a

challenge like this, right?

Until next week.