Turns out, it doesn’t actually matter.
The following experience was shared with me.
They have given me permission to pass it on.
“I always go red when I speak. I used to think ‘oh, I’m going red’.
And that made me go redder, face and neck.
I’d stop talking. And it would go down.
Then I’d speak again and I’d go pink again.
So, in meetings I’d stop talking, and not contribute my thoughts.
Then I was in a meeting. And I saw someone go pink like me.
And I thought to myself ‘that’s great, there’s two of us.’
But they didn’t stop speaking.
They just carried on.
And I forgot they were pink.
I listened to what they were saying. They were speaking with impact, making good points.
And the people in the meeting were listening, responding and developing ideas.
The speaker was still pink but they weren’t being treated any differently. It didn’t matter.
And now when I speak, I expect to be pink. And I make my points, chair meetings.
I carry on because the rest of the meeting cares about what I say, not what I look like.
I make my points and my impact. Pink and all.”
Thanks to the person who shared their experience.