316: Henna Pryor and her book "Good Awkward"

Today, you’ll hear from workplace performance expert and author Henna Pryor about her book "Good Awkward: How to Embrace the Embarrassing and Celebrate the Cringe to Become the Bravest You." In this insightful conversation, Henna and Heather delve into the nuances of awkwardness and embarrassment, the importance of self-awareness, and the role of reframing negative experiences.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

1. The Difference Between Awkwardness and Embarrassment: Henna clarifies the distinctions between these two social emotions, emphasizing that while they share similarities, embarrassment tends to be more fleeting and shared, while awkwardness can be adopted as an identity.

2. The Power of Reframing: Learn how to shift your perspective on awkward moments from contamination stories to redemption stories, enabling you to embrace challenges and grow from them.

3. The Importance of Self-Awareness: Discover the difference between self-consciousness and self-awareness and how cultivating self-awareness can empower you to navigate uncomfortable situations more confidently.

4. Overcoming Social Muscle Atrophy: Understand the impact of technology on our social skills and how to combat the tendency to retreat into our phones. Henna encourages listeners to practice social interactions in small, everyday moments.

 

Guest: Henna Pryor, workplace performance expert, executive coach, and author of "Good Awkward"

Podcast: The Elegant Warrior Podcast

Topic: Embracing awkwardness, self-awareness, and reframing negative experiences

Key quotes:

• "There is no such thing as a factually awkward person."

• "It's the start that stops. Most people don't even give themselves a chance to become publicly self-conscious." 

• "We have small moments that we can practice giving ourselves a social push-up."

 

Henna Pryor's book: "Good Awkward: The Self-Consciousness Scale”

Henna’s book choice is Say What They Can’t Unhear by Tamsen Webster. 

 

Her song is Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangster by Geto Boys

 

In this episode, Heather and Henna uncovered:

[0:00] Introduction 

[0:49] Introducing Henna

[2:22] awkward versus embarrassing 

[6:48] Easily, empathetically embarrassed 

[14:57] Self conscious and. Self aware 

[26:29] Social push up 

 

Connect with Henna Pryor:

• Website

• Chat with Henna

Connect with Heather: