Becoming a Professional Speaker
21 Jan 2010 Leave a Comment
in 1
I want to share what Professional Speaking means to me. My speaking career began when, way back in 1997, I was runner up in the Toastmasters International Great Britain humourous speech competition.
My response was to tell myself ‘you can do this, you are a Speaker’. I enthusiastically set about writing a couple of speeches that I could deliver to businesses, after all I was now a Speaker and I had run different businesses. That made me an expert.
Could I speak? Yes, I could (the judges told me I could). Did I know anything about platfrom mechanics? Yes I had learned those at Toastmasters. Did I have a topic? Not really but I am a Speaker and will find one. Furthermore I was a member of Toastmasters and I had joined the PSA. I must be a Speaker. Was I a successful speaker? Well, to a degree I was. I gave talks and I got paid money. Did I have passion for my topic? No I didn’t and consequently my speaking career never really took off.
However, my alternative platform ‘hobby’ did take off. A judge from the Speaking competition said “You should try Stand-Up comedy”. I found I could do that, was good at it, got paid and what’s more enjoyed it. I said hobby because whilst all this was going on I had learned to be a Psychotherapist. I fact, I am currently in the middle of doing a doctorate at University.
Something strange happened along the way. Suddenly, I was beginning to get approached to speak at conferences although I wasn’t really a ‘Speaker’. Furthermore, I had left the PSA and, didn’t tell anyone that I was a Speaker anymore. Nevertheless, I was being asked to speak. However, this time I was being asked asked to speak on different topics that I had never claimed to know anything about, I.e. Diversity and Change. “I don’t know anything about these topics” I said to myself, but the organisers kept asking and the audiences wanted to hear more.
The truth is I know a lot about these topics but I hadn’t realised it.I know how important diversity is in contributing to our culture and our businesses and what the benefits are. Equally importantly, I know how people can embrace diversity and employ it in their lives and in their organisations.
Closely allied to this, I know how to approach and manage change. Why? because I have done it in both my personal and in my professional life. In short I embody this expertise. It is within me. I know longer speak from outside of myself but from within myself and I use the gift of humour which God has given me to get my message across..
In short, what happened was that when I stopped trying to be a Speaker, I became myself and became a Speaker. I became a Speaker because when I allowed my passion and my experience to join me on the platform, people wanted to listen.
None of you need to change who you are because you are already perfect. Some of you just don’t know it yet. What many of you may need to change is your belief system and subsequent behaviour.
My life’s purpose is to support people to Become who You Are by sharing what I know that helped me Become Who I am. If any of this resonates with you. I’d be happy to speak with you. If not I wish you well in your personal & business life
