So, about 20 minutes or so into a webinar I was running for Momentum Club members a while back on “How To Win High-End Clients” and our doorbell rings…

It's my parents. They've been visiting and have just come back from a visit to the shops.

The doorbell rings again. The kids are supposed to answer the door but they don't. Probably up in the loft on the Xbox.

The doorbell rings again. I can't leave my parents out in the cold so I have to apologise to the webinar attendees and head off to let them in.

A rather quiet 20 seconds later and I'm back on the webinar feeling rather embarrassed.

After we finish I'm still embarrassed and I get an email from my friend Brendan Cullen who was on the webinar.

“Your break for your parents is great raw material for an email!” he says.

So here it is. But what lesson can we learn from it?

Well, originally I thought “I'll write an email about how I should have prepared better”.

But I quickly realised that nothing bad actually happened.

I'm pretty certain that no one on the webinar suddenly started thinking “well, Ian was talking sense about winning high-end clients. But now he's answered the door he doesn't seem quite so credible”.

Like most people, I worry rather too much about my “image”. About looking professional. Not having any hiccups.

And it's great to always put your best foot forward.

But sometimes caring about our image holds us back. We never finish that great article about a topic we think is important because we're worried what other people might think.

We hold back from doing a quick video to share our ideas because it might not look professional enough.

The truth is that if people like you, you have useful insights to share, and you do your very best to help them; then they won't really care if you have the odd hiccup.

In fact it kind of adds to your appeal. You're fallible like them.

Don't let wanting to “look professional” hold you back.