Oh NO!! Did I Do That?
Have you ever done something and immediately wished you hadn’t? That’s how I felt this morning when I was leaving a voice message for a possible client.
I was getting myself psyched up for this call. You see I dread making phone calls. It’s the hardest thing that I do. Tell me to talk in front of a group of 500 people–no sweat! Tell me to pick up the phone and call someone–big time sweat!
But I’ve read about and started using methods to prepare myself mentally for making phone calls. Some things I do are:
- Take a few deep breaths
- Take a mental inventory of what I offer and why this person should be excited to talk with me
- Take a look at my ultimate goal and remember that this one call might be the key to achieving it (but not in a high pressure way)
So I picked up the phone, pressed the buttons and listened to the ringing on the other end.
After the recorded message I blurted something like “Hi, my name is Donna Doyon and I’m an up-and-coming speaker in southern Maine.”
D’oh! I immediately wanted to erase the message but I had not way to do so. So I kept talking. I’m not sure what I said but I hope I didn’t add to my mistake. As I write this note I’m not sure if I even left my phone number! Yikes!!
For a few minutes after I hung up the phone I could feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment. Eventually, though, I shrugged it off as best I could. This was a cold call so the person doesn’t have a clue of who I am. This was a cold call so my expectations were not real high to begin with. This was a cold call so who cares if I messed up?
The truth is that I do care. So I sent a more professionally worded e-mail note to the man. I also sent by snail mail a cover letter and copy of my topic sheet. I also made a note on my calendar to make a follow up call in 10 days.
Oh no! Did I do that? You bet your bippie I did!
Don’t let small goofs (even if they seem like huge gaffes) keep you from moving forward with your dreams. The chances of him even remembering my original blooper-filled message are slim. And if he does remember it, chances are it will be with humor.
Sometimes we don’t do things exactly the way we’d like to do them. So we learn from the experience. Perhaps we laugh about it with friends–I know a few who will be amused when I relate this story to them.
