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   This article appeared in the Hawai'i Meetings & Events magazine, Winter 2004 issue, wherein Pam is named as one of Hawaii's top four speakers. It is reprinted courtesy of Tiger Oak Publications.

   Pam Chambers:
   Overcoming the Fear Factor   By Len Takushi

Life is full of irony. How else can you explain how one of Hawai`i's most respected professional speakers was once deathly afraid of even being noticed?

"I was always a very shy and timid person," admits Pam Chambers. "When I was in school, I would avoid doing anything that drew attention to me. I wouldn't ask questions, I would never be in a school play and I would never run for any school office."

But that was then. Today, Chambers is widely known as "Hawaii's Presentation Coach." Using real-life stories, interaction with the audience and "in-the-moment" humor, she provides customized training sessions for business organizations, holds classes on presentation skills, offers one-onone coaching and delivers keynote addresses that focus on personal development. Topics include "Bring Out the Best in Your Team," "A Roomful of Strangers: Seventeen Networking Tips," "The Power of a Professional Image," "Twenty-two Ways to Turn Satisfied Customers into Loyal Customers" and "What Everyone Needs to Know about Business Etiquette."

Review Chambers' list of clients and you'll see a "Who's Who" of notable corporations and organizations in Hawai`i and beyond, including Bank of Hawai`i, First Hawaiian Bank, Alexander & Baldwin, Aloha Airlines, Verizon Hawai`i, John Hancock Life Insurance Company, the American Bankers Association and Castle & Cooke. She was named one of Hawai`i's "Ten Most Admired Women" by Honolulu magazine in 1999, and is the author of a best-selling book, Public Speaking Made Easy.

Chambers' transformation came when she took a job as San Francisco branch manager for a company called Actualizations, which offered selfimprovement workshops. Once a month, she had to stand onstage in front of hundreds of "graduates" and their guests and introduce the seminar leader.

"I would shake, tremble and sweat, and afterwards I would just feel horrible about myself," she recalls. "I remember finally making the decision, 'I am going to master this, because this fear is crippling me.' Speaking in front of groups once a month was not enough for me to get over my nervousness, so I took a deep breath and asked for more speaking opportunities. I overcame my fear and now I help others do the same."

Coming from that background, Chambers completely understands the discomfort that many people have about public speaking. That's why all her talks and classes are geared to help people improve the way they come across to others. "One lady, for example, just didn't look or act the part of a leader," she says. "Within two sessions, her posture was better, she was dressing professionally, she had a sparkle in her eye and she was asserting herself in professional settings where before she used to cower."

Chambers also recalls receiving a letter that said, "I don't know if you remember me, but I took your class five years ago, and I just wanted you to know that I've now started my own business, and I never could have done it without you."

She smiles at the recollection. "I get cards and letters and e-mails from people all the time telling me how much I helped them. For me, there's no greater joy than that."

Excerpt: The Emperor’s New Clothes  from
The Ugly Duckling Goes to Work

 by Mette Norgaard

Fear can drive us to foolishness.  The fear is often caused by financial vulnerabilities. When we are over our ears in debt or the job market is soft, we feel exposed and we play it safe.  We accept the opinions of dominant players and deny our own experiences – we adopt their agenda.  In The Emperor’s New Clothes, the characters believe that if they cannot see the new clothes they are inept or dimwitted, obviously a career-limiting move. Because they fear rejection, they ignore what they see and say the expected.

In today’s workplace we deal with similar vulnerabilities. If we cannot see that the new strategy is brilliant, we could be considered “impermissibly stupid.”  If we do not applaud the new products or cheer the restructuring, we could be judged as “unfit for our position.” So, we publicly say the right words, even when we privately think something else.

We feel at risk, so we play it safe. When teenagers go along, we say they give in to peer pressure. But when adults do it, we say we are practical.

We go along because our boss and others higher in the hierarchy act as if they control our careers and we buy into that view. We believe that as long as we play by their rules we will be rewarded; that as long as we hit the numbers on their scoreboard we will succeed.  Then, when they cannot deliver, we feel cheated.  We need to realize that their power is limited - and trust our own.

We adapt because corporations have carefully constructed their images, and we expect them to be stable and solid.  Yet, frequent mergers, buy-outs, consolidations, and outsourcing make them unpredictable. As the “rulers” change, the rules are modified and the scoreboard adjusted.  Our pet project is dropped; our “A” team offshored; and our boss downsized. Even then we rationalize that at least we have healthcare insurance.  We must open our eyes. In the global economy, corporations will continue to change. We are free agents, and our only security is our talent and track record.

We comply because we like our standard of living.  We worry that if we speak our mind, our career will screech to a halt and our lifestyle will be downsized.  Most of us feel trapped by mortgage, car, tuition, and credit card payments. We give up our freedom to pay for our way of life.

© Copyright 2004, Mette Norgaard.  All rights reserved.

 
  More on Hans Christian Andersen...
  in case you didn't know

  Hans Christian Andersen
  Born April 2, 1805


  Hans Christian Andersen 2005 is the worldwide celebration of the writer's bicentenary. Taking place April 2 - December 6, 2005. The purpose of "Hans Christian Andersen 2005" is to ensure that as many people as possible - both in Denmark and abroad - attain a greater and more nuanced familiarity with the writer. 

Through Hans Christian Andersen 2005, everyone can have access to comprehensive knowledge, information and insight into Hans Christian Andersen's works and the man himself, and the celebration offers an opportunity to take a closer look at Denmark's national storyteller and poet. It is worth considering whether the image of Hans Christian Andersen that has been established over the years has become too narrow and constrained in relation to what the man and his writings can and should communicate to us today.

He was a critical journalist with great enthusiasm for science, an existential thinker, an observant travel book writer, a passionate novelist, a deft paper cut-out artist, a neurotic hypochondriac and a sex-fixated eccentric. He was a man with demons, dreams, yearnings and visions. He was a man of flesh and blood. Therefore, Hans Christian Andersen 2005 aims to be a broad, all-encompassing project that has room for both very large productions and projects with wide popular appeal and more marginal productions tailored toward particular target groups.

To promote the goals of Hans Christian Andersen 2005, a committee of "Hans Christian Andersen 2005 Ambassadors", consisting well-known personalities - primarily from the arts, will be established to foster international awareness of Hans Christian Andersen 2005. The Ambassadors will be selected from among the most distinguished and creative celebrities of each country.

In addition, all Hans Christian Andersen 2005 Ambassadors will be invited to the opening ceremony in Copenhagen on 1-2 April 2005 and to the closing ceremony in Odense on 6 December 2005. Both events will be broadcast live by television to hundreds of millions of people around the world.

In 2005, Hans Christian Andersen will be reborn as a writer in full flower. 2005 will be a year for deeper insight, education, enlightenment and opportunities for development. The qualities contained in the universe of Hans Christian Andersen are of inestimable value and should be celebrated throughout the world. His genius lies in the fact that he has something vital to convey to children and adults alike. His writings contain universal truths about human nature and psychology, crucial to the development of every individual.

Hans Christian Andersen has something to give us all, "...and Mette Norgaard is one of the top experts we can learn from today on the real lessons from his teachings.