Alper goes into overcoming resistance, particularly as it applies to making videos, and more generally, as it applies to rehearsing for presentations. He outlines the six steps he goes through, and recommends to others, when overcoming resistance.

Episode transcript:

Matt Krause
Alper, today we are going to talk about tackling resistance and we’re going to start out with general experience with resistance, and then we’re going to get more specific. Since this is a presentation podcast, we’ll be getting more specific with tackling resistance as it applies to rehearsing presentations, rehearsing speeches, stuff like that. And you also mentioned before the podcast that you had some actionable tips on how to overcome resistance, is that correct?

Alper Rozanes
Yeah, things that I came up with because I needed to.

Matt Krause
And also you have an interesting personal experience with overcoming resistance because you’ve mentioned before resistance in you recording videos for your business and you record videos all the time now. So somehow you managed to overcome that resistance. And I’ve always thought that was fascinating. Are you going to talk about that a little bit today, too?

Alper Rozanes
Well, in the intro I can mention several points about that completely having overcome that would be an overstatement. I wish it were the case, but I have batches of video creation and then batches of falling down and then picking myself up. It’s like a roller coaster, right? It hasn’t been completely fixed. And I have made my peace with the fact that it may never be completely fixed, it may never be something of the past, but like many challenges in life, you learn to live with them and they lose their grip on you with each time.

Matt Krause
I think that hearing about the work in progress is going to be even more fascinating than the story of somebody who has already gone through it and is on the other side. So I’m looking forward to this. Where should we start? Tell me what’s on your mind.

Alper Rozanes
Well, in my case, like you mentioned, my resistance was towards creating videos, and there were so many reasons behind that. But one thing that was guiding me throughout all this time was my intrinsic belief, my intrinsic conviction that this was necessary. So I did the work, I did the research, and I looked into why this was happening and what I could do about that. And today I’m going to share some of the things that I did that worked for myself, and I believe that would work for other people as well.

Matt Krause
Okay.

Alper Rozanes
But then I realized, hey, we can also take this approach and apply to rehearsing presentations as well because so many times I hear from people I work with that rehearsing the presentation is not something they look forward to. It’s not something that they put on their calendar with joy and look for the day and cannot wait for the time that they’re going to start working on it. So it has some resemblance and similarities with my process of creating the videos. I mean, that’s not something that I look forward to. I’m more of the camp of, okay, this is something that I need to do at the moment. So I think the things that worked for me can be applied to tackling any resistance or procrastination towards rehearsing for the presentations as well.

Matt Krause
Okay, keep going.

Alper Rozanes
In my case, my biggest realization was, okay, I am resisting.

Matt Krause
Okay.

Alper Rozanes
I mean, it may sound counterintuitive, but I also realized it’s like something lurking in the back of your mind, and you create all sorts of other activities that would keep you from starting to work on the task at hand.

Matt Krause
Okay.

Alper Rozanes
And I think the most important point was actually realizing that you were showing some sort of resistance. So if you find yourself with an important presentation, with a set date on your agenda, and also if you find yourself not starting the necessary work for preparing for that, I think it may be important to look into yourself and see if you’re actually resisting it.

Matt Krause
Okay.

Alper Rozanes
I think that’s like the first step, because rehearsal is essential. I mean, we have talked about that so many times. It’s critical, it’s essential. So if there is any resistance or any procrastination attempt against starting that I think it’s important to identify and realize that you’re actually performing some resistance.

Matt Krause
So let me see if I’m understanding you correctly. So one of the first steps of overcoming the resistance is to recognize that you are resisting, is that correct?

Alper Rozanes
Well, I wouldn’t say the first step, but it’s important to realize, because I believe you cannot work on something that you don’t realize.

Matt Krause
Okay.

Alper Rozanes
So if you find yourself pushing the date away, pushing the starting date, of course, you probably wouldn’t be able to push the presentation date. But if you find yourself procrastinating, if you find yourself resisting, I think it’s important to realize actively that consciously, not actively, to realize consciously that you’re doing this. And then I would say the first important step would be actually to identify the root cause of your resistance. In my case, I had to try to understand what was causing it. I had to look into myself. I had to ask questions like, am I feeling overwhelmed by the process or did I need help? Or was I not certain about where to begin, where to start? And after answering these questions, I was able to identify some causes, and only then I was able to actually take steps to address it. So my first step had nothing to do, in the case of recording videos, had nothing to do with the setup, with technical details, the sound of the picture. It was completely psychological. And it was important for me to look at the root cause of my resistance. Only then I was able to work on it.

Alper Rozanes
So in the case of the rehearsal, for the presentations, I’m assuming that some of the root causes could be you might have doubts about your upcoming performance, you might have fears about not looking good enough, being criticized, anything. I mean, it usually has nothing to do with the task at hand itself. It usually has nothing to do with the content, with your slides, with the way you’re going to perform. But it’s more like a personal fear or doubt about performing well or being criticized.

Matt Krause
I have a question for you at this point. You mentioned the setup. And the setup I find personally, and I know a lot of people do that they get hung up on the setup details, and they use that as an excuse to delay the start. Yeah, there are a couple of schools of thought about that. One is the school of thought that I’ve got to be perfect or I need to be really good before I can get started. And then another school of thought is just start. Even if you’re not particularly good, just get started anyway. Anything is better than nothing. What are your thoughts on that?

Alper Rozanes
Well, I suffered from that exactly. I was a member of the first school. Like, I have to be perfect. It has to be perfect. I need the best lights, I need the best camera, I need the best set up, the software and everything. And I got some of those things. I basically turned one of my rooms into a professional studio, and then I didn’t hit the record for months. Okay, so I was a part of that first school, but now I would like to think that that I have left behind. And now I think, you know what, any video is better than no video or any content is better than no content. And there is a huge difference between not having recorded anything and having something in your hands that you can work with. Okay, but in terms of the setup, in terms of the video recording setup, my biggest breakthrough was realizing that the most important aspect of a video is not actually the light. It’s not the camera, it’s not how you look on camera. It’s actually the sound. Really. I had to invest. Yeah. I mean, I have noticed that in myself when watching other people’s videos, watching other people’s content, contrary to what may be the automatic feeling about the video.

Alper Rozanes
Okay, I need to look good. I need to have the light in a good way. I mean, those are important things. But I think the most important aspect of any video is actually how you sound, the way people hear you. Okay, so, yeah, that was one of the things that enabled me to cross from the first camp from needing to be perfect to the second camp, actually.

Matt Krause
Okay.

Alper Rozanes
Yeah. And how can that apply to preparing for the presentations? Maybe you may be thinking that, okay, I’m going to do this presentation and it has to be perfect. My content has to be perfect, my slides need to be perfect, my delivery has to be stellar. No, it doesn’t have to be. I’m not saying that, just put yourself in that situation and try to wing it. I’m definitely not saying that. But I would like to strongly emphasize that it doesn’t need to be perfect. Just start doing the work and just try your best. Another thing that worked for me was actually setting a goal. So I set clear and I actually made a clear and specific plan for my video production, and I made myself a promise of publishing one video per week for two months. So I ended up actually feeling pretty responsible and accountable towards myself for creating at least eight videos. And surprisingly enough, it took me years to produce the first video and only two weeks to produce the next.

Matt Krause
Did you just say years to produce the first video?

Alper Rozanes
Oh, yeah. Yes.

Matt Krause
And then you said also just weeks to produce the second video.

Alper Rozanes
Two weeks.

Matt Krause
Really?

Alper Rozanes
Two weeks? It was like floodgates were open. I just found myself more comfortable. So setting a goal, in my case, worked. So again, if you’re preparing for a presentation, I think starting in advance is a good idea. So if you have three weeks, let’s say for an upcoming important meeting, which you’re going to present, in which you’re going to present, set a goal. I mean, you can say something like, okay, I have three weeks. I’m going to use two weeks out of that to work on my content, to work on my delivery skills, to work maybe on my slides, but set a goal. I think in my case that was important. Okay, but speaking of setting goals, I think it’s also important to break them into smaller steps. So if you were to say, okay, I have a presentation in three weeks, so I’m going to dedicate one day to work on every single part of that presentation, I think it won’t be manageable. I don’t think it will be realistic because what if something happens during that day that needs your attention elsewhere? So you’re divided, you’re not focused. So I think it’s important to plan in advance and maybe break down the goal into smaller steps so that if something goes wrong during the day, you can just accomplish at least something and still have time to work on other parts of the goal.

Matt Krause
Okay, good idea.

Alper Rozanes
And what I did was I also created a schedule. So I created a schedule to work on each step of the process. For example, in my case, recording videos not only required actually recording them, but it required, like, planning for them, scripting them, so also editing post production after that. So I created a schedule in which I had set days for recording them, having the raw recordings in my hands and working on them to produce and before actually, like, planning, okay, today I’m going to talk about this, next day I’m going to talk about that, et cetera.

Matt Krause
Okay.

Alper Rozanes
And I held myself accountable, which was one of the steps that worked for me. I held myself accountable for actually sticking to the schedule. No one knew about this. I hadn’t declared it or published it anywhere else, but telling myself and putting signs on the wall, for example, actually helped me. And that’s actually how it worked for me in the sense that it took me years to produce the first one, but two weeks to produce the next seven ones.

Matt Krause
By the way, a question for you. When you mention signs on the wall, are you just talking about, like, you take a piece of paper and handwrite, hey, make a video, or something like that?

Alper Rozanes
No, it was more like I printed the calendar and I was able to see that the red zone is approaching. For example, I would print a calendar and say, okay, Thursdays are for video production. And I would see that the Thursday was coming and I would not set meetings for that day. I would disable my automatic calendar link for Thursday and I would focus on that.

Matt Krause
Okay.

Alper Rozanes
And I wouldn’t put anything else on that day until the production was finished. So that’s how I held myself accountable.

Matt Krause
Sure.

Alper Rozanes
And the last is, I would call it my personal secret sauce was again, nobody knew about it, but I kind of celebrated my success. I mean, it was a huge deal for me to publish videos, and I would recommend this to anyone who has a daunting task ahead of them or which they perceive as daunting when you finish it. I mean, let’s say you have this presentation coming up in two weeks, and in these two weeks, when you put enough work, when you put enough dedication into it, celebrate it. I mean, I don’t mean like go out and party like crazy, but in my case, for example, I would be out on a dinner date with my girlfriend or with my friends, and I would raise a toast silently to myself. I wouldn’t say anything, I wouldn’t mention anything, but one of those toasts would be like a self pat on the back for having accomplished that.

Matt Krause
Okay.

Alper Rozanes
Like Neil Armstrong had said. No, just the opposite. I mean, it was a very small step. It was a completely insignificant step for humankind, but it was a huge step for me personally. So I would take a moment to acknowledge that and reward myself for what I deemed as one of the most difficult tasks in the world. So I think celebrating your success is an important part of that.

Matt Krause
Yeah, definitely. I find that too, for myself.

Alper Rozanes
Those are the steps that I came up with something that I was showing sheer resistance towards. And if you’re feeling the same towards preparing for presentations, you can take some of them, all of them and try to see how they work out for you.

Matt Krause
Yeah, I remember your progress in that area is remarkable. I remember when some years ago when somebody would turn the camera on, you’d be like, you’d freeze up. All of a sudden this guy who’s outgoing and loves public speaking and stuff, all of a sudden he completely freezes up. And now today, you’re like Mr. Video.

Alper Rozanes
Matt I have actual footage of myself looking into the camera for 7 minutes, not being able to utter a single word. No one’s going to see that, by the way.

Matt Krause
Okay, yeah, that’s good to know, but I totally don’t want to see that. That’s almost scary to know that exists.

Alper Rozanes
Because that was the part where I was holding myself accountable. And I remember thinking, okay, I’m going to push the record now and I’m not going to move from this chair. I’m not going to stop recording until I have something on my hands and it took me 7 minutes to start to being able to start speaking.

Matt Krause
That’s amazing. Okay, so we’re about out of time for today. So thank you very much, Alper. And this overcoming the resistance or tackling resistance, it’s something that we all experience. I experience it in my work. You’ve just described how you’ve experienced it and pretty much everybody else in the world experiences it. And the thing about resistance is that a lot of us think that we’re the only ones experiencing it. And every single person, I have never met anybody who doesn’t experience it. So thank you very much for sharing your story, Alper.

Alper Rozanes
Thank you. Thank you.