What Holds People Back Most from Doing Media Appearances

SUMMARY: Concerns about personal appearance often hold individuals back from engaging in media appearances, such as feeling they don’t look or feel good enough. The pursuit of perfection, including worries about weight or physical imperfections, can hinder participation. However, authenticity is key in media, with audiences valuing relatability over perceived perfection. Media platforms welcome individuals as they are, emphasizing connection and service to the audience rather than flawless presentation. Embracing authenticity and focusing on audience needs can overcome barriers to media engagement.

What Holds People Back Most from Doing Media Appearances

Hi everyone. I am taking some lessons on Instagram with Gayneté, who’s a wonderful fabulous teacher. And she’s also got a great course for all of you. You’ve got like several courses, and you’ve got some great stuff.

She’s teaching me how to do all things in Instagram. And one of the first things was I was not gonna go and do this Instagram stories because my hair is a big mess as you can see. I think that is something that holds a lot of us back when we’re doing media appearances. Like I don’t look great enough. I don’t feel great enough. I need to lose those 10 pounds. That’s what I hear most!

My branding gal just told me that someone who did photographs for their new website had the photographer go in and take off her double chin and every single one of the photographs.

But you know what? We want you to look like you and people think oh, I can’t come as I am. But media is a come-as-you-are party.

[Tweet “What’s stopping you from doing media appearances? Is it the pursuit of perfection? That is not what the media is looking for! They want you to be relatable, to think about them + your audience, not yourself.”]

Really what people are not looking at, like oh! her hair is out of place there or she’s got an extra tummy roll. She’s not perfect! They actually don’t want you to be perfect. If you’re perfect, they’re going to knock you off your pedestal. They want you to be really relatable and not to be thinking about yourself but to be thinking about them. And what you can do for them and then they’ll forgive you anything. Susan Harrow, media coach, marketing strategist, author of Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul® and I’m going to try to do some more of these I think in a little bit. Bye now.

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