Have you been rejected from a speaking opportunity and struggled with continuing to show up and apply more? In today’s episode, I’m sharing from my own personal experience how you can move on from rejection in business, continue to apply as practice, and a few things to consider when you are rejected! Plus I’m even sharing a few things to consider when you’re applying to speak!
Today’s episode is brought to you by my free ebook that helps creators avoid the big mistakes that are holding them back from becoming profitable, impactful educators.
Whether you’ve applied to speak on a podcast, at an event, or as a guest educator, rejection is a real possibility. This means you need to prepare for facing rejection even when you are confident in your abilities and your pitch.
As my speaker selection committee and I are working through the final phases of speaker selection for the Creative Educator Conference, I wanted to bring this topic to light, because I don’t think it’s talked about enough.
We received nearly 100 speaker applications, yet the reality is that there are less than 8 speaker spots available for my conference. This means I have to share the tough news to a lot of speakers that they weren’t accepted.
My encouragement to anyone who faces rejection in any situation is to not place your work in the applications or the results of them.
Prepping Your Pitch / Application
If you’re brand new to pitching, here are a few tips to help in your pitching and application process to ensure you’re not being overlooked:
Did you put your best work behind this pitch? Don’t let excitement overtake the thoroughness or intentionality.
Were you professional or were you hyper-casual? This happens often when you apply to a friend’s event or someone you know.
Are you following the application & providing detail? For example, in our application, we asked applicants to share as much detail about their topic and some simply put the title—not good.
How to Move Past Rejection in Business
You’ve worked so hard to establish yourself in your business, therefore, consider giving yourself time and grace to become an expert educator or speaker in that field as well.
As you do this, you will have to be consistent in applying for opportunities as well. Consistency is key to offering you the most valuable and rewarding opportunities as an educator. That consistency will also force you to face rejection.
Here are a few considerations to help you move past rejection in business when you’re applying as an educator or to speak:
Don’t take it personally. The odds aren’t going to be in your favor—ever.
Not every expert is a good fit for every industry event.
Ongoing practice in applying does create progress for your skillset.
Continue to show up—this means by applying year after year and still going to events!
Rejection should not define you and it should not define the way that you see yourself. I want to encourage you to be humble and keep trying. Get as much information as you can get as much education as you can. But at the end of the day, please know that with practice and with learn skills, there is nothing that you cannot do.
When you are a creative entrepreneur, time management is the number one key to preventing burnout! Click to join the list and download my free worksheet.