Introverts can work in communications

This comes up so frequently in my life - people questioning my choice to work in communications because I happen to be an introvert. I can't tell you how many times I've been laughed at and teased for not wanting to do something outgoing and extroverted "because that's what I went to school for". I've compiled a list of the gems I come across the most often.

"What do you mean you don't like public speaking - you're in communications.."

Yes. I went to school for communications - I did not go to school for public speaking and theater. The very thought of having to not only speak in front of a large audience but be theatrical as well makes the introvert in me want to curl up under the table and cry.

Don't get me wrong, I love to communicate. If I'm comfortable with you, if I'm talking about something I'm passionate about you'd be hard pressed to get me to shut up. Public speaking and acting is a small part of communications. The reason I fell in love with PR/Comms is because I love creating. I love taking my ideas, other peoples, clients ideas and turning them into something tangible. I live for the feeling of being able to reach out into nothing and spin and create something.

"How can you be in communications if you hate people?"

I don't hate people.

I rather like people, not all people but most people, I just don't recharge being with people. The reason that I'm spending my Sunday night curled up on the couch with tea blogging alone? This is how I recharge. 

Being around people tends to wear me out, especially when those people are in large groups. This doesn't mean I hate being around people, this doesn't mean that I need to work in a job where I'm never around people, this just means I make sure that I take the time I need to recharge. 

"You have to be outgoing - you're in communications"

I am outgoing - in my own way to a point where I am comfortable. This is not a career specific trait.

It's not that I shy away from any and every single event that requires I be a bit outgoing. There are times where I will dive headfirst into things without a second thought, and there are times where I will stand wide-eyed in the corner waiting for death. This doesn't mean I'm bad at my job and this doesn't mean I hate what I'm doing. This just means that I'm not comfortable in every single situation.

"How good are you at communications if you're not outgoing?"

I am damn good.

While I may not be the first person out of the gate to present something, I am good at what I do. I love watching the things that I work hard on, the things that I pour my soul into come to fruition at the hands of extroverted people. I love watching someone entirely different from myself take something I've worked hard on add their spin on it. 

I feel like this mindset of you have to be extroverted to be in communications exists to cheapen the work of introverted communications people. I think that people easily forget this spectrum of introverted/extroverted and thinker/doer. You can be both or one or the other or everything all at the same time. Being an introvert isn't a bad thing or something that you should work get over. It's not a flaw - it's how you are and who you are. Embrace it!

"You need to step outside your comfort zone!"

I do. 

I'm constantly stepping outside my comfort zone on an almost-daily basis. Just because I'm not the star of every presentation or conversation doesn't mean that I'm hiding in my comfort bubble. 

Just because I don't grab every opportunity in an extroverted way doesn't mean that I'm refusing to put myself out there. I think that people forget that there isn't an acceptable level of putting yourself out there. There isn't a clearly defined comfort zone that's acceptable for everyone. If you want someone to participate then put the option out there and don't force it. It's never fun or a good time when someone continues to push and push and push for you to do something you don't want to. 

How to torture an introvert - PART TWO!

Like part 1 states - I am an introvert. Okay, I'm like an extroverted introvert but an introvert nonetheless. 

So it's been through the past few months that I've definitely been thrown into some situations that have had me feeling like I shoved myself under a bus while simultaneously telling the driver to punch it. This has allowed me to add to my list of ways to torture an introvert. 

"You just need to get out of your shell"

It's not a shell. That prickly exterior is actually just me! 

It's not that I hate people - I do actually quite like people, I just don't like people all the time. I don't like to go out of my way to talk to people all the time because that stresses me out. I'm totally comfortable with people taking the lead occasionally because that's how I roll. 

"The fact that your bed is the most exciting part of your weekend is sad"

It's really not.

I spend five days a week surrounded by people - people that (while I love every moment of it) suck the happy juice right out of me with a straw. I need a day or two to just recharge and miraculously I get two of those days to myself every week! So I don't go crazy and go out all weekend - I don't recharge like that. Coffee and the internet binge for a solid 12 hours pretty much fills my happy juice tank.

Some people recharge by being with people. That's awesome.

Some people recharge by being as far away from people as possible. That's awesome too.

"You just need to be more outgoing - then you'll meet someone to date"

See that's a terrifyingly narrow way of looking at things. I can be outgoing - but more outgoing? That's like telling the Pope to be more Catholic. Why isn't being me enough?

It is enough. I am enough. 

I will still be enough in two years if I'm still single and still love spending weekends on the couch on my laptop.

"You're a PR person - isn't it your job to be outgoing"

Yes. While I'm at work.

And I am outgoing at work, I love going and talking to people and the butterflies that it still gives me. I love that nervous feeling right before I talk to someone new or call someone for the first time.

I don't have to be outgoing 24/7. I don't have a defaulted "outgoing" setting that doesn't have an off switch. The fact that people assume I am always out and happy and energetic actually is very stressful! 

"The reason you never get invited anywhere is because you hate hanging out with people"

I will admit - I am terrible at keeping plans with people. I always jump on the plans excitedly and then the reality of actually following those plans catches up with me. Either I'm exhausted from the day of or have a million things to do the next day and it's just all weighing on me.

It's not that I don't have fun when I'm out. I love hanging out with people - it's just that impending weight of knowing I won't have enough time to just recharge my batteries before the coming week and knowing I'll be drained by Wednesday. 

I love hanging out with people a lot - I just also love me a little more.