#91 Confident Communication is a Journey

Today, I interview Hrideep Barot. Growing up in India, Hrideep says he thinks his lack of confidence began at a very young age when he was struggling with night terrors. He couldn't sleep without having nightmares, so he ended up in therapy and began suffering from crippling social anxiety. He finally started to have some relief from the night terrors in middle school, but this is also when he noticed that he lacked confidence. He'd been comfortable and poised while practicing a poem for the talent show, but when the show started and the lights hit him, he felt a mysterious fear on that stage. From this point forward, he became an introvert at school. It was a great school with good opportunities and programs, and as Hrideep saw his friends developing themselves and starting to date and find their paths, he remained shy and felt very left behind in a lot of ways. As he started college, Hrideep realized his social anxiety was going to pose a huge problem. He would need to do lots of presentations and group projects. And what would he do when he graduated and needed to find a job? He knew something had to change. Ironically, since Hrideep wasn't good at math, the only degree program that didn't involve math was communications! During this program, he discovered that although it was a very academic program full of mostly writing instead of speeches, his classmates and peers were full of so much variety. They were cultured and diverse, so charismatic and curious and ready to learn. When he was forced to stand up and introduce himself to his classmates, they were confused by his anxiety. This was the turning point for Hrideep. He was about to spend the next few years with this group of people, and he was determined to overcome his fear. He looked for a coach but couldn't afford one. He spent hours on Google and the advice was unrealistic, easier said than done. He finally came up with a practical idea. He wrote down famous speeches given by other people, memorized them, and practiced emulating those people in the mirror. Eventually, a friend got sick and needed him to deliver a speech for her, and it went incredibly well because he knew the information he needed to present. The high of a good presentation stuck with him, and he felt a new sense of confidence. He realized that the "worst-case scenario is not that bad." Now, after years of practice, Hrideep runs Frantically Speaking, a company that helps professionals become better speakers and communicators. __________________ Hrideep Barot is the Founder of Frantically Speaking, which has grown from 0 to 100,000 readers within a span of merely 2 years. He has coached people from companies like Meta, Tesla, Deloitte, KPMG, and Adobe, and has trained people from various universities like Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Hult, and more. Previously, he worked in the pitching team for one of India's fastest-growing agencies presenting to companies like Netflix, Pepsi, Google, Amazon Prime, and Coke. Find Hrideep here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa2Tff_UeQJgYWfXCulx6Xw http://www.instagram.com/frantically.speaking/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/hrideepbarot/  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjX1Sj38ykU The Ultimate Public Speaking Checklist (printable PDF): https://franticallyspeaking.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/The-Public-Speaking-Checklist-1.pdf _________________I'm your podcast host, Dr. Doreen Downing, and I help people find their voice so they can overcome anxiety, be confident, and speak without fear. Get started now on your journey to your authentic voice by downloading my Free 7 Step Guide to Fearless Speaking: https://www.doreen7steps.com.  Support the showI’m Dr. Doreen Downing and I help people find their voice so they can speak without fear. Get the Free 7-Step Guide to Fearless Speaking https://www.doreen7steps.com​.