Quiet Impact: A Creative Introvert's Guide to the Art of Getting Noticed

By Drew Kimble

Are you an introvert trying to get noticed in a world full of noise? Learn how to take charge of your strengths and use them to your creative advantage. 

Do you worry that being an introvert will hold you back in your creative endeavors? It’s time to stop thinking that “being introverted” is a problem to be solved. This book will show you how to succeed by honing your natural abilities. 

As the founder of SkinnyArtist.com, Drew Kimble has taught many introverts like you how to develop their creative strengths. By following his pragmatic advice, you’ll learn how to get noticed in your field and share your story with your target audience, all the while never compromising who you are. 

In Quiet Impact, you’ll discover: 

- Why being quiet isn’t the same as being shy, weak, or unhappy

- How to minimize the toughest challenges of being an introvert

- The unspoken relationship rules for introverts and how to navigate them effectively

- How to market yourself without feeling like you’re shouting

- How to thrive in a noisy, extroverted world, and much, much more! 

The author knows from experience that you can get noticed without pretending to be something you aren’t. Using a methodology that anyone can follow, you’ll learn how to connect with your audience, show off your talents, and really take off in a world full of noise. 

Quiet Impact is the creative manual for introverts who want to get noticed by all the right people. If you like practical guidebooks full of proven advice and plenty of “ah-ha!” moments, then you’ll love Drew Kimble’s career-changing book. 

Buy Quiet Impact to connect with your audience the right way today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Drew Kimble
• Release date: Oct 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9781540176882

Book preview

YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE

I used to think I was the strangest person in the world, but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you. ~Frida Kahlo

All my life I’ve felt like the largest outcast, driven by an unquestioning need to belong and to conform. I still feel it now. But I’m close to the point of not caring. ~Michelle Lara Lin

WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?!

I had spent hundreds of dollars to attend that writer’s conference, but now all I could think about was how quickly I would be able to make my escape.

The keynote speakers had been great, but as I glanced down at my schedule, I knew the worst was yet to come. The end of the day (not-so) happy hour meet and greet was scheduled for the next two hours, which is the reason I found myself frantically searching for the nearest exits.

Simply too much

There are too many people to keep track of at these types of large events. Too many names and faces to remember. Too many pointless stories about the latest game or how hot the weather had been that week. Too much commotion and noise. It's just too much information coming at me from every direction.

What I could never figure out, however, was that if I was so miserable, why did everyone else seem to be having the time of their life?

What’s wrong with me?

I’ve been like this for as long as I can remember.

I have this tendency to sit around for days, dreading large social events. I cringe when someone mentions an upcoming meeting, or (god help me) a group team building event.

I begin to feel uneasy around the holidays because they always bring with them an endless gathering of family and friends that, for whatever reason, makes me want to hide inside my car until January.

Even celebrating my birthday has always filled me with a sense of dread, not because I'm getting older, but because it means that I will likely be the center of attention.

What the hell is the matter with me?!

Why couldn’t I just enjoy parties like everyone else, or get together with a group of friends without it sending me into some weird panic mode?

It’s not even that I’m that socially awkward. Although I am usually quiet in large group conversations, when it comes to talking to someone one-on-one, I've been known to be downright chatty.

So if that’s the case, why would I still rather be home reading a book or binge watching my way through my Netflix queue?

WHY INTROVERTS HAVE GOTTEN A BAD RAP

I wish they would only take me as I am.

~Vincent Van Gogh

We’ve been lied to our entire lives

Our culture has been built on the idea that those who talk, are the ones who know. We have been told from an early age that we should speak up, get involved, and just do it. We favor those who are decisive and not afraid to take action. We’ve been taught that the squeaky wheel gets the grease and if you want to move up, you’ve got to speak up.

If you happen to be an introvert, it can be hard to grow up in this culture and hear these types of messages day after day. When this type of behavior doesn’t come naturally to you, it’s easy to feel like there’s something inherently wrong with you.

Think about some of the words people typically use to describe an introvert:

Shy

Awkward

Low self-esteem

Quiet

Overly Sensitive

Aloof

Self-conscious

Loner

Smart

Difficult to get to know

Have few friends

Now compare that with some of the words that people use when describing an extrovert:

Funny

Talkative

Seems to know everyone

Charming

A people person

Not afraid to speak up

Happy

Lots of friends

Confident

The life of the party

When you take a look at these two lists, which one sounds better to you?

Introvert is not a four letter word.

As you can see, introverts have a little bit of a public image problem when it comes to the words most people associate with them.

It’s no surprise then that most introverts won’t raise their hand (not that we’re hand raisers to begin with) when people ask if they are an introvert.

This would also explain why no one can seem to nail down exactly how many introverts are out there. Various surveys have found that somewhere between 15% to 50% of our population are introverts. This is a pretty big range, which means that either people don’t know that they are introverts, or they just don’t want to admit it if they do.

The overall message here seems to be that being an introvert is not something that we should necessarily be proud of.

So where exactly did this sense of guilt and shame come from?

Maybe it was from our parents who kept telling us to put down the book or video game controller and be more social. Especially if they happened to be extroverts themselves.

Maybe it was our teachers who tried to get us to fit in, raise our hand (again, not our thing) and speak up more in class. We were told, or at least it was implied, that being quiet and having only a few close friends was not normal.

In a world that applauds extroverts and their outgoing behavior, it is easy to believe that there might be something wrong with us when we don’t fit that mold.

It’s kind of like being born left-handed and then be told that you awkwardly have to use the right-handed scissors because that’s what everyone else is using.

The good news, is you’re not alone

You may not always notice us because, like you, we have a tendency to avoid the spotlight as much as possible.

Luckily most introverts like to read books, so here we are.

I’ve always thought of books as a secret type of messaging system to other introverts. After all, introverts are often the ones writing the books, and we are also the ones most likely to read them.

So maybe it’s finally time for us to dust off our Introvert Pride buttons and let the rest of the world know that we’re out there.

IT'S NOT JUST YOU, WE'VE ALL GOT ISSUES

Quiet people have the loudest minds.

~Stephen Hawking

What exactly is an introvert?

The terms introversion and extroversion are thought to have originated with the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, who believed that there were essentially two different types of personality preferences. Extroverts who focus their energy out into the world, and introverts who direct their energy inward.

One quick side note: Before anyone shoots me an angry email for misspelling Jung’s original term extraversion as extroversion, please understand this has been done because the spelling convention of this term has apparently changed over time. Although I realize that this may annoy Jung purists and those of you with an unhealthy affinity for Latin roots, you can blame the internet.

As introverts, this means that we primarily focus our energy on ourselves, which may sound a little selfish and narcissistic, but it’s really not. In fact, introverts are some of the most selfless and generous people out there because (unlike many extroverts) we are not always running around seeking attention for ourselves.

Common personality traits of an introvert include:

Quiet

Independent

Quickly overwhelmed by external stimuli

Prefer to think before they