Fake It
[by Leslie Burns]
One of the biggest problems many, many photographers face in their businesses is being and acting confident. Just today I was speaking with a client who said, essentially, that he’d rather have scalding coffee poured in his lap than have to talk about himself. That’s pretty typical.
Most photographers (and all creatives) are terribly insecure. And yet we see some who appear totally confident, if not downright proud and even egotistical! How do they do that?
For most, they are faking it.
At least at first. They’re scared someone is going to say “I don’t know how you’ve gotten this far!” or “Who do you think you are?!” or the like (we pretty much all fear that), but they just don’t show it. They act confident, regardless of how they really feel. That is the trick.
Just look up “fear” and “courage” on any of the quote sites. You’ll see that generals like Patton have said that everyone is afraid, including the most courageous. Your normal to be afraid. But you can appear confident and courageous on the outside.
When I speak to groups, people talk about how confident I am. Really, I’m scared out of my shoes, every time. But I chose early in my professional life, actively chose, to act like I was having a great time when speaking publicly and, guess what, now I have a great time. That fear has become like the thrill some people get from bungee jumping or riding roller coasters.
So, what I suggest is the well-worn advice of “fake it until you make it.” Imagine what a confident photographer would do in a similar situation and play the part of that photographer. Wear the clothes (costumes really help, so invest in some great outfits), practice things you might say when you’re alone, and next time you have a big meeting, or show your book, or whatever, fake it.
Afterwards, when your heart stops racing and you are alone, review what worked. Think about how you did it. Don’t focus on any mistakes, but instead celebrate the success. And the next time, it will be a little easier, and the next, and the next.
4 Responses to 'Fake It'
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Thank you for writing this, Leslie. It’s something that I, personally, really needed to hear from another photographer, especially someone that has been in the business for awhile. I’m sure that others will probably feel the same way that I do. I’m going to print this article out, keep it with me and read it every time I’m not feeling 100% confident in myself. It’s a great reminder and it’s a wonderful massage to young photographers that need to hear that everyone feels this way. I’d love to see a program developed at some point that is all about the “Art of Self-Promotion” that touches on some of what has been discussed in your article here.
There is a lot of truth in the, “Fake it til you make it adage” but whilt your faking it you need to be using other tools and educating yourself if your anything like me or a lot of other folks out there. At one time I was painfully shy and introverted because I lacked a heck of a lot of confidence. Ask yourself “What is it I’m most afraid of? The answer will be a resounding, “I’m worried about making a fool of myself, or coming across as lacking skill’s or intelligence to speak about my work or myself.” The solution to that is to confront it head on and look at what could possibly go wrong in any meeting, or interview, and then address what you can do to avoid those secnarios.
There are many things that can go wrong as a professional photographer in the course of working with a client or even when taking your portfolio to show a client. If you look at what can go wrong in advance and then analyse what you can do to least prevent that scenario, you lessen the likelihood of it cropping up and you will feel a heck of a lot more confidence. Confidence comes from educating yourself as much as you can.
A simple example would be going to that meeting/interview with your portfolio and just not being prepared about what you will say about your work (each piece of work not the work as a whole), or finding the right words to express about each piece. The other example is dress and body language when delivering a public presentation. The solution in this instance can be a lot better than “Faking It.” By actually reviewing each piece in your portfolio and preparing a little dialogue of key words as you look around the image and rehearsal of what you will say about any one piece that is picked up and stimulates questions from the viewer and revising that until it is ingrained in your head, you will not be stuck for words. Not only this but you will sound intelligent because you’ve picked key words ahead of time. You should be able to speak clearly about your work and justify your reasoning in any piece in your portfolio. Simple attention to detail done well in advance of going to see a client would boost your confidence to some degree meaning your more in control of how you handle a meeting. The more control you have, the less likely it is you will stumble. It’s one thing faking it, but sometimes if your ill prepared in the above way, it can come across that your overly confident but just not switched on where your own work is concerned. It’s one less thing to worry about in a meeting if you address it. Tackling the rest on a confidence level, it’s good to write down all the things that can go wrong in such meetings i.e. your facial expressions and your body language etc or even how you act. For example it is better to do less talking when folks are looking through your portfolio, let the work speak for itself and let the client prompt the questioning with any peice of work he/she picks up. Also if your not that good with interpsersonal skills, grab the bull by the horns and learn them. Research and look at how interpsersonal skills may affect your job opportunities or how someone may be reading you in these situations. Body language is important and a language all by itself – there are training aids out there specifically outlining this stuff for people to analyse where they could possibly go wrong.
Body langauge Example:
It is as simple as learning all about body language in the first place (search engine is a good place) and then ask yourself whether you do anything with your body language that could give off signals that your lacking confidence in some way or much worse. You then address those issues but you also look at positive body language and learn to use it.
For example, the handshake. We all know there are many ways this can be done and come across as controlling or dominant for the sakes of ego and it is the wrong place to do that when your on the other side of the desk looking for work. Yet it need not ever come to your body language affecting your chances of getting work if you’d studied it in the first place. I only mention two interpersonal skills needed during a job interview or meeting with a potential client here. There are tons. It is as simple as plugging “interpersonal skills” in the search engine or researching it at your local libary because once you address those factors, you will certainly be doing a lot less faking. Faking it is good, but addressing the thing you fear the most whilst your faking it should become your mantra – as well as analysing post interview what you may have done wrong if you did not get the job or assignment.
Oh the art of self-promotion…
I think what scares photographers is that we don’t know what works. We can play confident on the out side, but I think it’s what is inside that really matters. If what is inside is insecurity it will eventually surface and show itself. Basically I think it’s all about loving what you do. Feeling the passion for taking a photo, the thrill of networking and showing your work to others (submit an image to Leslie for the next “assignment”).
There are so many thoughts, ideas and advice out there that it can all get very confusing. Get a group of consultants together and they will all have different opinions on how many images need to be in a portfolio, should the book match the web site, are emails better than post cards, what should you wear to a photo shoot, etc…
So some end up doing everything, and at the same time nothing – not knowing if it all looks.
I’m just having fun trying to make it all work!
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