I was looking for a college summer job one time and I wanted to use my presentation skills. I saw an ad in the paper about a job where you give presentations door to door to raise money for a community activist group seemed like a good group. They were supporting some of the same causes I cared about. I went in for an interview. And I asked the representative so what do you believe in? Well, we believe TJ and fair minimum wage for everyone, no exceptions, minimum wage of $5 an hour.
This was way back a long time ago. So okay, by the way, what is this job pay? This job pays $3 an hour plus you get an extra now and then if you raise more money so right away, it seems odd to me. Disconnect. We're fighting for people to get minimum wage, but they didn't want to pay me minimum wage. The next thing I'm trying to be a young professional I show up in a suit and tie.
Everyone else is wearing jeans and a T shirt. So I kind of stood out as odd as weird. Well, guess what? It just wasn't a good fit. I lasted in that job for one day. So what did I do that summer?
I cleaned windows at an office park, not very glamorous, didn't use my speaking skills. But it puts some money in my pocket. And I had to wait for another day to use my communication skills. Why did I tell that story? I want you to realize there needs to be a good fit with what you do what you're presenting. It's very hard to just have generic presentation skills that are going to be great.
In every situation, every job, every product you're selling. You need to feel good about it. You need to feel comfortable. I just felt it Disconnect. I didn't feel like the people who ran this community organization were bad. It just didn't feel right.
And I decided to leave. Now I went to something. washing windows, I can't tell you I learned a lot of great lessons from there. But the real lesson I hope for you is, don't just settle for the first thing that comes along. Don't just settle for the first opportunity. When it comes to using your speaking and your presentation skills.
Really look around and find something that's a good fit. And these days, you have so many options as far as selling your own services, your own music, your own ideas, your own blog, your own online course. Find something you really care about. It's going to be so much easier for you to be really persuasive because if you believe it, that's half the battle.