Nearly 40 percent of people describe themselves as shy. And that includes some of the most accomplished women in communications, including broadcasting star and Matrix winner Barbara Walters. If you’re timid, how do you squelch the tendency to step back? Below, find out how NYWICI women did just that.

Tap Your Alter Ego

Imagine standing in front of a large studio audience, right next to Oprah Winfrey, and being watched by millions of fans across the country. Author and public speaker Victoria Moran doesn’t have to imagine it—she lived it.

“The show was live that day, and I had butterflies. The producer said, ‘Any time after you're introduced, just jump in. Otherwise, you could lose your chance.’ I said, ‘You mean interrupt? I can't do that. I'm a good Catholic girl from Kansas City.’ The producer replied, ‘Leave her at home.’

"When I notice I'm feeling more like stepping back than stepping up, I remind myself to send the good girl home and let the terrific woman show up instead. It never fails.”

--Victoria Moran (www.victoriamoran.com) is a speaker/life coach/author of Creating a Charmed Life and Fat, Broke & Lonely No More!

Accentuate the Positive

What brings shyness into full bloom for Renée Niño de Rivera, a public-relations executive, is negotiating contracts. “I want to die a thousand deaths.” How she copes is to:

“Visualize a stop sign with the words: CHANGE YOUR THINKING. And then breathe in and out three times before saying anything. Use a 15-second mantra. I often repeat, ‘I'm a great public speaker! I'm a successful woman! I'm courageous!’ List your assets and successes and use that as your mantra.”

--Renée Nino de Rivera, (renee@ninoderivera.biz), president of Nino de Rivera Communications, Inc., concentrates on the strategic positioning of luxury and consumer brands in U.S., Spanish and Latin American markets.

Adopt a Prop

Journalist Michelle Lodge started out shy, but her profession changed her.

"When I was in school, classmates thought I was a snob. But I was just too shy to say hello. Yet for some time now, I've been saying hello to such people as former President Jimmy Carter, film director Frances Ford Coppola, pioneering heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey and Nobel Laureate and novelist Toni Morrison for Time magazine and thousands of other subjects for many different publications. Having a notebook and pen as a shield, of sorts, and needing to ask questions forced me to ignore my hesitancy and get the job done. Now when I tell friends I was once painfully shy, they laugh in disbelief."

--Michelle Lodge (michellelodge@gmail.com), is a New York-based journalist whose work has appeared in many national publications.

Network Like an Extrovert
No doubt about it, networking is essential to career advancement. If you’re shy, here are tips to help you fake it to make the necessary contacts:

• Become an expert—think of networking as what you and your expertise can do for others, not the other way around, and speak up with authority.
• Use the buddy system—have a pal introduce you to strangers to break the ice.
• Come in through the back door—become a volunteer at an event; then later offer suggestions for improving the next gathering.

Bridgett Gayle (b.c.gayle@att.net) is a writer/editor/author of several contemporary short stories.