The Art of Self-Promotion | Lizz Smoak | TEDxWestBrowardHigh

Well, growing up as an only child, you can imagine that I was raised very close to the vest under my parents' wing when I went away to college in Philadelphia, my parents sold the house, packed up everything right in the middle of Hurricane Andrew and came with me to Philadelphia, two years into my close academic pursuit, my father had a minor health crisis and we all returned to Florida so he could recover. Now I was asked to meet the family finances and it was by no means all that bittersweet for me. I couldn't have asked for anything better, not for my father, but for my

self

.

I was born as an entrepreneurial daughter. My father had sales figures running through his veins and you could pluck my mother's creativity like apples from a tree, so when they called me. to enter the corporate world I was ready I knew what it took to serve as a customer I knew what it meant to be timely I knew what it meant to be reliable and trustworthy see but it wasn't always that way It took me a long time beatings not from the tall parents of the kids at school because the more my parents pressured me to excel and stand up, the more alone I felt there.

I clearly remember sitting on the couch one day and telling my mother when I had a child. I'm never going to pressure them to be different, it's too hard, the abuse and pain just isn't worth it, so the first day of that job finally arrived and I was prepared like any good corporate girl in my nice corporate dress and suit. black. leather skirt and my cow print shirt and my hair in a banana clip, it was the early '90s, remember, and there I was sitting at my own desk in my own space for the first time.

She was 20 years old, she might as well have been. the Oval Office for my return counter and while I was waiting for my boss to come down the hall, he handed me my morning order, handed me a floppy disk and a contract that I had read in writing and told me to make these changes and give me Now , my entrepreneurial father trained me in computers with his laptop. It was this big and it was pale beige, so heavy I couldn't even carry it. It had a small screen that lifted up and lit up bright green. I was asked about my computer skills right then and there on Lotus 1-2-3, so of course the first day on the job I called the only tech support I had ever trusted, 1-800, called add right and it was literally under from the desk in the Call Dad, I have a contract on a disk, but how do I put the disk into the computer?

And he's like, "Okay, there's probably a slot on the front of the computer." Put the disk in the slot. Turn the knob. Close it. Dad. It's in. he says okay, type C colon backslash C colon backslash nothing dad nothing happened liz the computer screen is green I said no dad it's black so Liz the computer is off he said okay how do you Do I turn on? It says on the back there should be a big toggle switch, so I feel around the back, sure enough, I pressed the switch, it glowed green, we had the colon C backslash take off and it started raining words, letters and cryptic numbers, it's all a little confusing from there, but the only thing I was worried about was progress.

There was my document. I could change the contract type on the words and I could type C, colon, backslash, print and it came out. I was so excited that I had done my best, but you see, I was only successful that day because my parents, unbeknownst to me. He taught me the invaluable art of

self

-

promotion

. I was just brave enough to send my resume to that job and crazy enough to believe that 20-year-old me could financially support my parents. You see, my daughter is now five years old and every morning we start our day with our hands on our hearts and say you have the heart of a lion and you will love yourself no matter what the world tells you because she will need the art of self-

promotion

over and over and over again throughout your life since the science fair. to the spelling bee to the cheerleading squad elect me to the first day at your first job now some of you here in this room, whether you're 14 or 68, you still haven't mastered the art of self-promotion and that's okay because wherever you are on your timeline tonight is a very good night to start because a message lives within you, a message worth telling, it is your skill and your survival instinct that needs to be told, but I will warn you that There is a big risk in self-promotion because you see that the only thing that stands between you and all the people you admire is self-promotion, the risks are that you can make an impact, you can help someone get out of that toxic job, you can inspire someone to get out of their abusive relationship.

You can make a difference in this world, so you can stand up right now and tell the story that is authentically you or you can retreat into the shadows where no one sees or hears and you can watch the world go by. you can come out into the light and heal the world with your message now you are probably wondering what is this story what is my story how do I tell my story if you allow yourself to return to your darkest hour your darkest hour loss death heartbreak financial ruin bankruptcy crisis cheers your message comes from that mess and it is your skill and your survival instinct that took you from that mess to success and no matter where you are your story needs to be told so tonight I would ask you to infuse your story. in every person you touch student neighbor friend strangers the world is a big part of you, if not the only one, that connects you to the rest of us and tonight I will also ask you to put your hand on your heart and look in the mirror and say have the heart of a lion and you will love yourself no matter what the world tells you