A 20-minute talk on overcoming impostor syndrome -- the persistent feeling that you're not qualified to be doing whatever you're doing, and everyone's going to find out you're a fake any minute now.

1. Overcoming
Impostor Syndrome
Denise Paolucci
Dreamwidth Studios
denise@dreamwidth.org

2. Impostor Syndrome
“...a psychological phenomenon in which
people are unable to internalize their
accomplishments. Despite external evidence of
their competence, those with the syndrome
remain convinced they are frauds and do not
deserve the success they have achieved. Proof
of success is dismissed as luck, timing, or as a
result of deceiving others into thinking they
are more intelligent and competent than they
believe themselves to be.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome

3. Impostor Syndrome
OH CRAP
THEY’RE GOING TO FIGURE
OUT I HAVE ABSOLUTELY
NO IDEA
WHAT I’M DOING.

4. Sometimes, your brain
is a jerk.

5. A really big jerk.

6. CC:BY http://www.flickr.com/photos/katjato/4934944998

7. “You and John and Jane
are all so good at what
you do!”

8. Thanks! I really enjoy
working with them.

9. They’re good at this.
I’m just good at
pretending.

10. “I always look up to
you as a role model!”

11. Thanks! I’m really glad I
can help inspire you.

12. You wouldn’t if you
knew how bad at this I
really am.

13. “You’re always so good
at solving problems for
others!”

14. Thanks! We all help
each other out
whenever we can.

15. Except for that one mistake. And
the other one. And that really
huge one. And the time I broke
everything and everybody had to
clean up my mistakes and then I
spent a week hiding because I felt
guilty and was sure that
everybody was going to blame
me for wasting all their time and I

16. (breathe.)

18. Why Impostor
Syndrome Sucks :(

19. Why Impostor
Syndrome Sucks :(
• Impossible to take pride in your work.

20. Why Impostor
Syndrome Sucks :(
• Impossible to take pride in your work.
• Impossible to admit you don’t know something.

21. Why Impostor
Syndrome Sucks :(
• Impossible to take pride in your work.
• Impossible to admit you don’t know something.
• Prevents others from having perspective too.

22. Why Impostor
Syndrome Sucks :(
• Impossible to take pride in your work.
• Impossible to admit you don’t know something.
• Prevents others from having perspective too.
• It makes you feel like crap :(

23. Let’s talk about ways to
address the problem.

24. 1.
Talk about the issue.

25. 2.
Watch your language:
some ideas are self-
reinforcing.

26. Such as...

27. Such as...
• “Just”, “Only”, and other minimizers

28. Such as...
• “Just”, “Only”, and other minimizers
• “I think”, “I don’t know if”, and other
qualifiers

29. Such as...
• “Just”, “Only”, and other minimizers
• “I think”, “I don’t know if”, and other
qualifiers
• “I’m not a REAL X, but –”

30. Such as...
• “Just”, “Only”, and other minimizers
• “I think”, “I don’t know if”, and other
qualifiers
• “I’m not a REAL X, but –”
• “Should”

31. (these are really hard)

32. CC-BY-NC-SA http://www.flickr.com/photos/starfive/6729394929

33. 3.
Teach what you know.
(Even if you think you
don’t know it.)

34. 4.
Question corrections.

35. Sometimes they’re
right!

36. Sometimes...

37. (That’s Mike Holmes. He never worries if
he’s qualified.)

38. 5.
Ask questions.

39. 6.
Ask for perspective
checks from a friend.

40. 7.
List your
accomplishments.
(Own them.)

42. 8.
Practice accepting
compliments.

43. 9. Get more
background information
for comparisons

44. 10. Remember that you
are awesome. Really. I
promise. (And others
feel this way, too.)

45. Thank you!
Denise Paolucci
Dreamwidth Studios
denise@dreamwidth.org