How to Get Over an Embarrassing Moment in 5 Steps
Soul Gum
by Victoria Hutchins
4.9 • 560 Ratings
🗓️ 2 March 2025
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Admit it: you’re still thinking about that cringey thing you did 6 years ago. Maybe it was something you said. Something you did. Something that haunts you at 2 AM when your brain decides to rerun its most humiliating blooper reel.
Today, we’re breaking down exactly how to move past an embarrassing moment in 5 steps. We’ll talk about why your brain refuses to let things go, how the spotlight effect makes you think people care way more than they actually do, and the five fastest ways to shake off the cringe and move on with your life.
EPISODE OUTLINE
00:00 Intro
02:06 Preorder Make Believe! Come see me on tour!
02:44 Why do we feel embarrassment?
03:50 Embarrassment scale
03:57 Tier 1: slight cringe
05:07 Tier 2: mild cringe
07:07 Tier 3: proper humiliation
11:09 Tier 4: deep humiliation
13:29 Tier 5: existential humiliation
15:45 Jean Paul Sartre’s the gaze
17:50 The spotlight effect
18:44 Social media and the spotlight effect
19:30 5 tips for navigating embarrassing moments
19:3 6 Break - Book! Bali! Tour!
25:25 1. Remember the spotlight is not real
29:51 2. Call it out as it’s happening
32:49 3. Tell someone
34:27 4. Figure out the root
35:58 5. Own it and then move on
40:07 Challenge
MY LINKS
- Preorder my poetry book MAKE BELIEVE from Blue Willow to get a free poem print and a personalized signed copy
- Preorder MAKE BELIEVE from Amazon, Target, Barnes & Noble, and more
- Let’s hang on tour!!
- Get the Believe Again yoga flow, guided meditation and mini-journal bundle free when you preorder MAKE BELIEVE!
- Join me in Bali June 1-7!
- Find me @thedailyvictorian on Instagram
- Find me @thedailyvictorian on TikTok
EPISODE LINKS
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Admit it, you're still thinking about that cringy thing you did six years ago. But you don't have to be. |
| 0:06.9 | How to get over an embarrassing moment. Let's talk about it. |
| 0:12.3 | Welcome back to Soulgum, the self-development podcast with philosophical, psychological, and literary flair. |
| 0:25.1 | I'm your host, Victoria Hutchins. My goal is to give your soul something to chew on. And today, we are talking about embarrassment. Embarrassment has |
| 0:34.2 | this way of creating a perfect snapshot of our worst moments and searing them into our brain. |
| 0:42.4 | The only moment I remember from third grade is when I farted in our class. |
| 0:47.5 | I truly couldn't tell you another single thing about the year. |
| 0:49.5 | I don't remember my teacher's name. |
| 0:50.9 | I don't remember anything I learned. |
| 0:52.4 | But that moment that I farted in our class |
| 0:55.6 | is like it happened yesterday. It is in the vault. I remember what the classroom looked like. I remember |
| 1:00.8 | the reaction. I remember this boy who liked me, Josh Reddick. I probably shouldn't say his name. Josh R. |
| 1:07.1 | Bachelor style. Josh R was in the class and he approached me after to ask if it was in fact me that farted. |
| 1:14.1 | And of course I lied, and I will do it again. |
| 1:16.6 | Whether it's bodily stuff like farting or queffing in a yoga class, I've done that too, or saying something awkward, or heavier stuff that's tied up with morality and shame. Embarrassing moments feel so big in our |
| 1:31.9 | heads and it feels so hard to move on. So today we're going to be asking, why do we feel embarrassment? |
| 1:39.5 | Why does it stick in our brain for so long? How can you make embarrassing things feel less embarrassing |
| 1:45.6 | in the moment? And how do you stop cringing at yourself long after the moment has passed? |
| 1:52.0 | Make sure you listen to the end of the episode. I'm going to walk you through five tips that have |
| 1:56.4 | helped me navigate embarrassing moments. And of course, because this is Soulgum, we will be weaving |
| 2:02.3 | in psychology and philosophy as we go. Let's get started. But first, this episode of SoulGum |
| 2:09.5 | is brought to you by me. This is not sponsored. I'm going to take a little break later in the |
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