Marketing myself

I don't know why it is, but I can stand in front of a crowd and make a speech.  I can stand in front of a crowd and teach.  In my youth I was even comfortable playing basketball in front of large crowds, which I did on a couple of occasions.  But I loathe the idea of standing in front of a crowd and trying to sing or act.  It's just not something I feel comfortable doing.

Now I find myself in the position where I have to appear before crowds of unknown people to market myself.  This causes me no discomfort.  What does bother me is that I have to try to boast about myself without making it seem that I'm boasting.  I'm not comfortable boasting about myself.  Contrary to what my siblings may tell you, I'm not naturally conceited.  I even like to think of myself as modest.  So telling people why they should hire me over other people is difficult. 

One of the ways I have to market myself is to be sociable.  Next to singing or acting in front of other people, being sociable is about as uncomfortable to me.  Karen thinks I may have a mild form of autism.  I disagree.  I think it was the way that I was raised -- or not raised, to be more precise -- that caused me to be uncomfortable around people in social situations.

That's not to lay all the blame at our parents' feet.  I wasn't socially adroit in my earlier years and although I may have sloughed off some of that awkwardness over the years -- although not enough for Karen's liking -- I'm still uncomfortable.

And the final element to all of this is that this group I'm meeting is a Spanish-speaking group.

Let the good times roll....

(c) 2013 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles