I recently did something new. I was a guest on a podcast! 

Frank Demming, President and CEO of the digital marketing agency Local Business Marketing Solutions asked me to chat with him on his podcast about my belief that the best person to write for your business is you. 

(Frank himself was skeptical of this thought until we worked together to revamp and personalize several of his website pages!) 

Three things happened next that I was 100% expecting: 

• I loved the idea of it because, let's be honest, it was nice to be asked!

• I loved prepping for it because I know at a very deep level the core messages of my business. I was confident I could tell the 4.23 story the way I wanted to tell it.

• I loved doing it because talking with Frank is always great.

But once it was done, it was so incredibly hard to bring myself to listen to it! A million "what ifs" flooded my brain. 

• "What if my voice sounds ridiculous?"

• "What if I say 'um' 1 million times?"

• "What if I blather on and on and on and on and on..."

We get really creative when it comes to stalling, muting our voice and holding back our message. 

I hear those fears from so many people who own businesses and hesitate to put themselves out there. Even from those of us who have built our entire business around content coaching and message strategy!

What if... what if... what if...

Flip the Script? 
Here's where you're expecting me to flip the script and say "but what if my voice didn't sound ridiculous or I didn't say 'um' 1 million times or I didn't blather on and on and on and on and on..." 

Valid points, one and all.  

But so is this: 

• Even if my voice sounds ridiculous, my message is still out there. I can do better next time. 

• Even if I say 'um' 1 million times, my message is still out there. I can do better next time. 

• Even if I blather on, my message is still out there. I can do better next time. 

You can't get better at something you never do. 

So send the email. Do a Facebook live. Say 'yes' when someone asks you to be on their podcast. 

And yes, do listen to that podcast and share it with others! Like I am here: Marketing Solutions for Small Business with Frank Demming.  

“Well Said Wednesday” is a blog by Barbara Govednik, Founder, Content Coach & Message Strategist of 4.23 Communication. It’s published every other Wednesday…ish.