(pic credit Олег Мороз)

Sometimes your imposter can also be your friend.

One thing I hadn’t anticipated when I started running professional communications training was that I would not only be helping clients build skills, but also helping them overcome perceived shortcomings.

I would find myself sitting opposite people who appeared cool, calm, and accomplished, but who underneath were carrying a collection of jangled nerves and negative thoughts. They worried about being exposed as incapable, underqualified, or even being seen as frauds by their audience.

This concept of imposter syndrome is one of the most common challenges standing in the way of people becoming truly effective communicators.

But it can also be useful.

Imposter syndrome might make people underestimate their abilities and exaggerate the gaps in their knowledge, but the fear of being exposed can also drive them to prepare more thoroughly, examine their assumptions, and ensure they know their material.

The problems begin when preparation becomes over-preparation. That can lead to presentations that are too long, too detailed, and poorly suited to the needs of the audience. Speakers get lost in the detail, struggle to articulate their key point, and become increasingly anxious about forgetting something important.

There are three strategies people can use to ensure their imposter does not get the best of them:

• Know exactly what you are trying to achieve and stick to it ruthlessly. Having a clear objective and the discipline to stick to it is my most common advice. One objective, a small number of supporting messages, enough evidence to substantiate them, and a few compelling stories to bring them to life. It’s not a question of being prepared for everything, but of being confident in delivering what matters.
• Know the boundary of your expertise. You do not need to demonstrate everything you know. Staying inside the territory you can defend creates confidence and reinforces your authority. It is fine to concede there are areas where your expertise is lacking – provided you deliver value in the areas that matter.
• Remove the language of uncertainty. Cut unnecessary qualifiers such as “I think”, “I believe”, “hopefully”, “not necessarily”, “trying to”, and “sort of”. If you know something, say it. Confidence in delivery comes through what you say and how you say it. Getting to the point with confidence builds the audience’s confidence in you.

The goal isn’t to silence the imposter. Having a little doubt can be useful, because it makes us prepare, question ourselves, and avoid taking an audience for granted.

The trick is knowing when the imposter has done its job. It’s certainly done its job for me.

Prepare because your imposter tells you that you might not be good enough. Then, when it is time to communicate, leave it behind.