There is a power, an energy, a likability that comes along with being the enthusiastic volunteer. At a networking meeting, if the leader asks, “Who would like to start us off?” it’s a great time for you to thrust your hand powerfully into the air and say, “I’ll go!”
People respond to that commitment, that willingness to lead, and your dynamic attitude. You’ve begun your pitch or commercial with an advantage that nobody else there will get.
First mover. Brave. Leader.
It’s a strong attitude that I hope you’ll bring with you to any event where you may be asked to speak.
Picture yourself at a workshop, perhaps about sales or some aspect of communication, and the instructor asks for a volunteer. If you go first, you gain a few fantastic advantages. Besides the one mentioned above, that general +1 you get from people, there are three others I’ll mention.
First, you get it done and out of the way!
If you are near the end of the line, you spend the whole time fretting about what you’re going to say and how you’re going to say it. Someone else uses a line you were going to use and know you wonder if you should use it or change it. The person before you is fantastic and you’re wondering “How in the world will I follow that?!?”
Second, you’ll get the best coaching.
If it’s a class, a workshop, or training, the first volunteer always gets the best coaching. Even if the trainer doesn’t consciously try to reward the person for going first, they do! They use that example to show people the right way to do the thing and for ways to improve.
Third, you get to relax and enjoy the rest.
You sit down and you’re done. No fretting. No stress. You get to watch all of the others intently, taking in valuable information that others are missing because they’re fretting. (See 1) They’re only half listening to what’s going on and missing the best parts.
I learned this in Improv where I learned that there is nothing worse than an empty stage. Like a DJ with dead air, an improvisor’s first instinct is to jump out and fill that space. It quickly becomes far more important than, “I don’t know what I’ll do.”
It was quite freeing to finally get that having an idea isn’t what’s important. It’s about getting out there and making it happen.
I know that’s scary for folks that haven’t made that shift, but I promise you that if you do, you’ll enjoy events, meetings and workshops a lot more!
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