Hosting an Online Summit as a Highly Sensitive Person

Guest Article by Rose Cox

Hosting an online summit can be so rewarding yet it can also result in overwhelm and burn out, especially for highly sensitive people.

In this blog post, I want to share some of the highs and lows of hosting a summit so you can decide if it's something you may consider doing yourself. Along the way, I'll share some tips to avoid the challenges as much as possible.

The Pros

1. Connections

The most rewarding part for me when hosting a summit is the connections. I've met people from all over the world whom I would never have met, had I not reached out to them and invited them to be a guest speaker for my summit.

Over the past year, I have formed new friendships as well as business collaborations. In my last summit, I even got to meet three of my lovely speakers in person. Two of them just happened to be visiting my area and another I was able to meet up with when I visited New Zealand.

Even some of the people I have reached out to for both of my summits that weren't available to speak, I have kept in touch and formed great connections with. 

I have also been blessed to make many wonderful connections with people who have joined my community because they signed up for the summit. Some of these have led to new clients, new friendships and again, new collaborations. Collaborating with like-minded people is such a valuable experience.

2. Learning

Not only do the summit attendees learn a lot from the lineup of inspiring speakers, so do I! Being a host is so exciting when you are able to connect on Zoom with people you may have followed for years (or even decades!)

Having the opportunity to interview people for 20-30 minutes to ask them questions is priceless. One such speaker in my first summit was Dr Shad Helmstetter. I had read Dr Helmstetter's book some 30 years prior - What To Say When You Talk To Yourself.  This book had made such an impact on me and being able to spend 25 minutes with him asking all the questions I had always wanted to ask was truly a gift. Not to mention, sharing his knowledge with the thousands who watched that first summit.

As I write this, I am nearing the end of recording interviews for my second summit. So far I have spoken to 18 incredible humans who have been so generous in sharing their time and their knowledge with me. I have picked up many wonderful tips, advice and strategies and I still have three more amazing people to learn from. And the best part is that I get to share all of this with many, many others which adds that extra layer of giving back.

3. Personal Growth and Visibility

Before hosting a summit, getting on camera was probably one of the last things I would have dreamed of doing. As an introverted HSP, I found public speaking very daunting. Putting myself out there on camera or anything that shone the light on me was not on my bucket list. I'm sure one or two of you can relate if you are also an introverted HSP!

Getting out of my comfort zone has changed the way I show up, not only in my business but it has had a ripple effect in my whole life. I've learnt to trust in myself and my vulnerabilities. To show up with authenticity. 

I would never have received this education hiding behind my computer.

4. Build Your Authority

Hosting an online summit is a great way to build your authority in your area of expertise. It can help to take your business to the next level if you are currently stagnating in your growth. It also helps you to create and build your own community.

I have been invited to be a speaker myself on three summits and two podcasts to date. 

5. Increase Your Audience Size

Building your audience is probably the number one reason why people host summits, however I've left this to last. This is still important however the preceding points are more important to me personally than the audience build but I do see it as the icing on the cake. 

Collaborating with other speakers allows both the host and the speakers to get in front of people they may not have otherwise reached. 

Do ensure that the speakers you invite are aligned with your own audience and your values. This may seem obvious but well worth pointing out.

What to Avoid

Although the experience of hosting a virtual summit is extremely rewarding, it's not all roses, rainbows and unicorns!

1. The O Word!

In the program that I was part of that taught me the steps of how to host a virtual summit, we were told not to use or even think of the 'O' word. It was not to be part of our vocabulary. 

I'm talking about overwhelm.

One week into my 2-week summit, I suffered incredible overwhelm and massive burn out. 

Looking back now, I can easily understand how this happened. I had not taken a day off in 3 months and pushed myself to do everything perfectly. Perfectionism being another HSP trait!

On top of that, I was also in the middle of another coaching certification which involved training some very late nights as the classes were based in Europe - not very conducive to my time zone here in Australia. And of course my client work which always took precedence.

Although being conscientious is an awesome superpower as an HSP, if the self care is missing, we suffer tremendously. I wanted to do the right thing for all my speakers and attendees and went above and beyond to make the experience as delightful for all concerned as I could. 

The word delightful did not come to mind in the middle of my burn out however. I wanted to hide yet the name of my summit then was called Stand Out And Be Seen. How ironic!

I did manage to get through the last week - barely. It took me almost 3 months to properly recover and really take stock of my business and my life. 

To avoid the O word, I highly suggest planning your summit in the quieter times of your business. If you are considering undertaking additional study, finish this before you host a summit or hold off signing up, at least a few weeks after your summit so you have time to rest and rejuvenate.

2. Not trusting your heart

As I mentioned earlier, the first summit I hosted was following a structure in a group coaching program. We had specific guidelines to follow which didn't sit well with me. Yet I followed them like a good student.

These guidelines involved many rigid stipulations for the speakers, including asking them for a minimum email list size as well as a lot of promotion. Without going into too much detail, I found the whole speaker outreach hugely uncomfortable along with the many rejections that followed.

For my first summit, I reached out to over 200 people and had 30 speakers.

I decided to run things my way for the second summit and do things that aligned with my values. The whole process this time has been smooth and fun. I reached out to just 40 people and have 21 incredible speakers from all over the globe. Many of the other 19 who I reached out to, had launches of their own or the timing just wasn't right and have asked me to contact them to speak next time round. 

My main takeaway I'd love to share with this point is, if you are considering hosting a summit, please trust your intuition (which of course is our forte as HSPs) and don't follow something if it doesn't sit right with you. For me, my heart told me the message the speakers have to share with everyone, is far more important than the size of their list.

3. Incorrect planning

There are so many moving parts when it comes to hosting a summit. If you think it will take 3 months to plan, add another month or two at least to give you the breathing space so you can avoid the overwhelm and burn out that I've already mentioned. 

As a summit host you need to wear many hats. Web developer, graphic designer, copywriter, video editor, customer service, social media manager, .... and of course interviewer.

If any of these are not within your realm of expertise, I highly recommend getting help and outsourcing. Not the interviewing of course though!

A project planning tool is imperative to keep all of your tasks organized over the many months of planning and implementing. There are many great tools to choose so find whichever you are most comfortable with. I personally use ClickUp and others include Basecamp, Asana and Trello.

I also recommend adding plenty of buffer time in between interviews and to space out your client work during this time.

Silver Linings

I've always believed that every cloud has a silver lining. In the middle of the burnout that I suffered in my first summit, I discovered the highly sensitive person trait.

It was a huge awakening for me and I believe is what got me through that final week. I was on my morning walk and Julie Bjelland was a guest on one of the regular podcasts I listen to. I had never heard the term highly sensitive person before. Julie talked all about the HSP trait and I felt like I'd come home. Everything just seemed to fall into the place and so much from the last 50+ years of my life finally made sense.

I listened to this episode a few more times, and I delved into this wonderful world of HSPs. I found Julie's podcast and her website with all these incredible resources she offers. I watched Julie's masterclasses, took her courses, and joined her wonderful community. I read many books on the topic from Elaine Aron and other great authors. 

I shared the trait with family and friends and saw the difference it made in many of their lives, to discover that they too were an HSP and that there was nothing wrong with them. Many have gone on to share it with others, causing that beautiful ripple effect. 

Witnessing this awakening in myself and others gave me the intense desire to host my second summit. I knew hosting a summit was a wonderful way to reach more and more people to share our trait. 

What better way than to collaborate with other HSPs to speak on this topic and share the message of how we can use our gifts and how we can navigate our lives and our businesses to our best advantage.

If you are thinking of hosting your own virtual summit, I can highly recommend it. The experience can be life changing but please ensure you make self-care a priority above anything else.

The HSP Entrepreneur Summit will be airing on 6-10th December, 2021. If you are reading this post before then and are curious to know more, please see the link below:

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Rose Cox is a transformational coach, clinical hypnotherapist and business strategist. Rose works specifically with highly sensitive people and empaths who have amazing gifts to share with the world, but struggle with both the mindset and technology necessary to make their dreams a reality.

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