How can you overcome fear of negative feedback?

To help with your triggers: - Make a list of feedback situations, critics, and criticism types that trigger anxiety, and rank them. -Pay attention to physical cues like sweaty palms or quickened pulse to identify discomfort triggers. - Look for patterns around triggers like certain phrases, tones of voice, or facial expressions. - Knowing your specific triggers will help you start consciously facing them through gradual exposure. - Be compassionate with yourself in this process of self-discovery. Awareness is the first step to overcoming fear.

Shirzad Chamine’s book, Positive Intelligence has some great research-based information on how we sabotage ourselves or allow others negativity fuel our own negative thoughts. Worth a read and time for reflection.

Try asking "when has public speaking hurt me?". This is important, so set aside at least an hour with a friend, colleague or coach to help you get to the core of where your public speaking fear comes from. List your fears and find your triggers. A helpful exercise is to imagine It's easier to manage known fears: (1) If fear of hurting your reputation is why you avoid speaking in public - that's a real but manageable issue a coach can help with. (2) If avoiding anxiety and discomfort is why you avoid speaking - that's a real but manageable issue that a psychologist or some self-care can help you with. Set aside time with a trusted person to list and define when public speaking has hurt you and you'll leave with a list you can control.

I agree, recognizing triggers help in dealing with feedback. In my experience, before we analyze triggers we must first become aware of our self talk. This plays a huge role in our self-esteem and confidence. We all have heard the phrase, “We are our own worst critic”. Well, that critic is most always negative. Once we give ourselves grace and permission to have that positivity in our self talk, we can then begin to build our self-esteem and confidence and respond to feedback in a more positive and less harmful way.

Never get defensive, its shows weakness/insecurity. A speaker must be confident. If there is a Q and A and someone is critical. Use empathy to try to uncover the root of their anger. For me, I always kept it fun and when its fun, people are less apt to demonstrate criticism.

I could go all day about reframing your mindset, but it comes down to this: you are not your feedback. Negative, positive, whatever it is, you are not that thing. You are so much more. Learning to not identify with what you are told is crucial to maintaining your peace and actually hearing what the person is trying to tell you. Keep focusing on your growth. All will be well. But you are not your feedback.

Make friends with your imposter syndrome! We all have it a bit. It’s loud, it’s always lurking and it’s afraid of humiliation. Welcome it - what it’s really saying is you’re on the edge of something new, so go there. Try, ask help, journal, learn but don’t stop. Turn it from a big shouty parrot to a little budgie, and just keep going. You’ll be learning fast and making progress.

Here are some suggestions for reframing your mindset: (1) Nerves? Or Excitement? When you feel public speaking nerves avoid saying to yourself "I'm nervous" and replace it with "I'm excited". It is the same feeling with a "glass half full" perspective. (2) Is the spotlight on me? Or the Audience? Instead of thinking the speech is about you, remember that the speech is about the audience and the topic. Make it about them. (3) And thirdly, stop stressing about how best you could say something, and start thinking how the audience could say it back (through notetaking, questions, surveys, or comments for online presentations). Afterall, if you can say it, you understand it. But if they can say it, they understand it.

One trick to adjusting your mindset is to assume noble intent. Developing a belief that all feedback provided is with the best intentions diminishes the potential sting of imperfection and unlocks the door to personal growth. Shifting your outlook alters your perception. What you may have once viewed as an attempt to chew you down will be recognized as an effort to build you up.

For me personally, reframing your mindset allows us to unlock a new level of insights and reveal people’s innate abilities and motivations, increase the effectiveness of trainings and meetings, overcome miscommunication, build trust and self-confidence, and untangle conflicts. Improve the effectiveness of each and every person, most importantly, yourself. Everything we do begins with our thinking.

Marshall Goldsmith has spent years teaching the concept of seeking FeedForward. Positive, future focused, and specific to “How can I be a better…?” I accept it much better because it is in the future and something I can control.

Recognise that as in life you may not be for everyone and that's OK! Learn how to differentiate between actual constructive feedback and someone who just doesn't like your style or disagrees with what you have to say. Use mindful awareness to critically appraise the specific situation from an observer's perspective so that you can better assess how to implement changes without getting too emotionally attached. But be kind to yourself. Many people never step out of their comfort zone to do anything to warrant feedback, just putting yourself out there is a win.

I agree. Not all feedback is helpful, especially if it is not relevant or specific. It is up to you to determine what is constructive and what may be general feedback or matter of opinion. We want to ensure we are authentic in our speeches and presentations, and we cannot do that if we are comparing ourselves or our style.

Sometimes, feedback is unsolicited, therefore, not well received. However, both the timing and the delivery of constructive feedback are equally as important.

People are generally afraid of feedback because most of the time, they have had a negative experience with it. A typical situation is when an employee didn't do something well, so you give him or her feedback about it. People often get defensive and hurt feelings when they receive negative feedback. With an emotionally intelligent approach, you can tailor the feedback to the person in question. Your impact will be much stronger. Moreover, if you approach employees or colleagues from their own preferences, beliefs and skills, they will recognize themselves better in the feedback and be more open to it.

Taking the time to thoughtfully respond to feedback at work shows that you care and that your colleagues' ideas and opinions are valuable. Whatever type of feedback you may receive, remember to always respond with empathy and compassion, and remind yourself that all feedback is helpful to your growth as a manager. 30% of employees don’t feel like their companies give enough importance to their opinions and suggestions. Retrieved from :Officevibe’s Pulse Survey data accessed on: 05-08-2023 Open a feedback channel: Show employees that you’re open to feedback by giving them a dedicated space to share it.

In my experience as a lawyer and therapist, receiving feedback can be an uncomfortable because it triggers our earliest blueprints of criticism. Did you have a particular or overbearing parent? These early imprints provide a lens through which we filter feedback. Practicing self-awareness to which emotional states are triggered within you can help you stay calm amidst criticism, and listen without shutting down. One technique is to stay grounded in your bodily sensations by noticing any physical changes without building a story around it. For example, notice if you get flushed, or your stomach tenses up when you receive feedback. See if you can maintain an attitude of curiosity and kindness to yourself as you listen.

Feedback is about listening actively, taking the time to analyse, and then thinking of the best possible solution to perform better. It provides positive criticism and allows to see what everyone can change to improve their focus and results. As a rule, start with the positive and then move on to negative events. Be very specific and give examples of certain actions or situations, and use “I” when giving feedback. Effective feedback offers specific examples and solutions, so the person you're giving feedback to knows what to do to improve. Knowing exactly what they did that they can improve on—and what actions to take to improve—helps recipients actually apply feedback.

In a previous role, I would prepare to facilitate new training by delivering it to a room full of empty chairs. I would think strategically about my delivery methods, how long it took me to transition into different sections of the training, and when would be the best times to open the room for discussion. When I would facilitate the training to adult learners, I would randomly ask learners for their feedback on the training to get their opinion on what could be improved. As I would facilitate new training within the first few months of a new rollout, I would reflect on the training’s overall effectiveness and write down my own constructive criticism on how I could improve during the next scheduled training.

In the real world, we routinely undertake projects that no one has done before. A problem, especially at innovation centers, that is being examined by a diverse range of experts, in multiple iterations will help us understands the problem beyond one’s own expertise and provide a holistic solution. Therefore, developing ideas, seeking constructive feedback, assessing the feedback, and making appropriate changes is completely worth the pain. Reminding oneself that it is not personal, intended to improve work-in-progress solution, using one’s judgement on which suggestions to consider will give a sense of freedom along with building necessary resilience to sustain negative feedback.

I hosted a workshop a few months ago. After the event, I had the participants complete an online evaluation. Most of the feedback was positive, but there were some comments that were harsh. I took a step back & analyzed the feedback. I recognized the pitfalls also. Negative feedback helps you to improve your skills each time you speak. Knowing your blind spots helps you prepare better for the next encounter. You won’t always be perfect, but you will always get better.

I call this dept in my startup “customer happy heart” Why? Well, when I need to find a market-fit product I have to do some hardcore negative feedback survey by phone or online. This thing helps us on finding issues that are hidden and improve the product to thrive. I have this calorie tracker app that had a high churn, what I did was stop all the ads and redo the app based on what we got from the customer's happy heart dept. Does it grow as hell? Nope but every inch of this product gets better and sales grow organically. With a push of marketing, sales will jump dramatically. That's my honest answer I hope it helps some of my entrepreneur fellow.

Most of the time it is hard for us to celebrate our achievements. We have been taught to be humble and not brag or sound self-serving. There is a difference. It is important to recognize when our efforts have been fruitful. We most definitely need to be better cheerleaders of our own accomplishments because when we acknowledge our hard work and growth, we also let others see that goals are attainable. We need to be examples for others to see themselves through our own accomplishments. So let yourself shine!

Feedback can be the greatest gift you ever receive (or give!) In my experience, what’s worse than negative feedback is no feedback at all. Without feedback, we are robbed of the chance to improve, learn and grow. Being ‘coachable’ and shifting to a growth mindset flips the script on feedback, going from something we dread to a welcome opportunity to grow! By being receptive to feedback and seeking it out ourselves, we can help establish and nurture a culture of feedback in our organizations, leading to a more collaborative and productive work environment.

Keep in mind that your perspectives may not align with those of others. It's alright if not everyone shares your opinion, as both positive and negative feedback can provide opportunities for your growth.

The important thing with feedback is not to take it as an attack on ourselves. Feedback allows us to mature emotionally. We learn to control our emotions to the feedback of others better. What helps my clients and me is to see feedback as a time factor. Then they automatically distance themselves emotionally from feedback. Take a maximum of 3 minutes and then conclude. Take control of your feelings by telling them when and how long you want to deal with things. And not the other way around. After all, life should be about what we want to achieve and live, not how we can avoid feedback from others.

My worst negative feedback was in church, when I was preaching on the theme of "the stranger in our midst". Afterwards a congregation member launched into a tirade of abuse in which it became clear that he had taken personally things that I had said, which were aimed at prompting the congregation to think about ways in which we may all inadvertently make "strangers" feel unwelcome in our communities. What helped me thourgh this bruising experience was: 1 immediate positive feedback from another member of the congregation who also apologised for his behaviour, and 2, being able to discuss the incident with my husband (who is also a preacher) afterwards. I now try to avoid potential triggers for audience members by more careful word choice.

As someone who previously experienced stage fright and who had a unique understanding of what it meant to speak or perform in front of an audience or on stage, I had a lot of work to do to become the Public Speaking Coach I am today. I uncovered the root of my fear, set small goals, and achieved them. Those goals included saying Yes to numerous speaking opportunities and serving in different roles (ie: panelist, moderator, introducing a speaker, etc.) to be certain that I could eventually stand at a podium. The opportunities also included audiences and venues that became increasingly larger with each Yes! I overcame my fear, and today I am a Public Speaking Coach teaching people to use their voice to empower and inspire people globally.