Always do the things you are afraid to do

When I first started work, I was extremely shy, and the thought of speaking in front of people scared the living daylights out of me. When I was forced to present a few times, I turned into a sweaty mess. In fact, one time, I got so nervous that I ended up having a coughing fit in the middle of a presentation forcing the client to leave the room to get me a glass of water. Once I had stopped coughing and choking all over the client, I stood red-faced, sweat coming through my shirt and my suit jacket! I could see my boss and colleagues sitting wide-eyed, wondering if I was going to keel over or finish the presentation.

I looked at the client and just said, 'Look, you have to hire us because we are even prepared to die for your business!' The client laughed nervously, and we eventually won the business. The only thing I could do at that stage made a joke out of this surreal experience. But this taught me very quickly that if I can recover from what I was always in fear of experiencing, why did I get myself into this mess?

The truth is presenting to a client can be intimidating, and sometimes the stakes are high if you do not win the business. I have gone to presentations knowing if we don't win, people in the agency will lose their jobs, that's pressure! I pushed myself to present at every opportunity. No matter the size of the project or client, I would make sure I was going out and presenting to clients. Some were good, and some were awful, but I persevered, and the clients appreciated me being at the meetings, as did the account managers. So although it meant more work for me, I had a very selfish reason to go out, and everyone was getting what they wanted. The agency had happy clients, the account manager had support in the meeting, the client was delighted more of the agency were showing up to meetings, and I was presenting daily.

Because I knew it was a challenge that I had to overcome, not because I enjoy talking in front of people but because it was a fear entrenched in my psyche that stemmed from being afraid of making a mistake. But if I wanted to progress in my career, I had to overcome this fear and improve at presenting work to clients.

Since then, I have had bad presentations, not quite like the first one, but ones that didn't go well. But the more I did it, the more I realised there was nothing to be afraid of. In fact, I have presented at conferences around the world with thousands of people, and I now really do enjoy it. I found a passion that allows me to reach and connect with people worldwide, exchange ideas, helping people with things I have learned or am passionate about.

One of my favourites was at Google Headquarters in London at a conference called REMIX. My presentation was about the company I worked for at the time called Bridgeman Images. It was mainly focused on how any company can have a startup attitude to growth hacking a business and the developments of technology such as 3D printing and scanning, augmented reality and virtual reality, with particular examples in the museum sector.

I found joy in something because I overcame something that terrified me, and I didn't allow it to beat me. I faced my fear and realised that sometimes we make more of things than we really should. In truth, I had nothing to be afraid of in the first place, other than what I had built up in my head. Fear can be paralysing, and I am not saying it is easy. It's not. But I guarantee if I can do it, anyone can.