Scott Berkun is a full-time professional writer and speaker. In this book, Confessions of A Public Speaker (affiliate link), Scott does an excellent job of delivering solid advice to the aspiring speaker based on his collective years of experience. Funny, witty and informational, this is a “Must Read” in my opinion.
See, public speaking is one of my passions. I have three events coming up this month and I spoke at three events in February. I spoke at a total of approximately 23 events last year (17 of which were paid). Scott undoubtedly has done many more, so it’s nice to hear stories and lessons based on someone else’s experience. In business and in life after all, I believe that you learn from your own experience and the experience of others. That being said, here’s what I’d like to do…
Enter the Contest:
I have two copies of Confessions of A Public Speaker. At first, I wanted to keep both (hehe). But alas, I won’t. I’d like to give one away to another passionate and aspiring speaker. To enter, simply do the following:
- Leave a comment sharing a story about one of your recent speaking experiences and challenges (What went wrong? Were you nervous?) and how did you deal with the situation.
Contest closes on Friday, March 5, 6:00pm PST. If you know of someone who might enjoy this, please Tweet it and/or share the link to this post with them.
Hi Ricardo…thanks for turning me onto this book and sharing your story. I, too, am an aspiring public/pro speaker. I've been a member of Toastmasters for a few years. I've gone from someone who's painfully shy and extremely nervous to someone who is making some big strides when I speak. I've come a long way but still have a long way to go. My biggest problems are using hand gestures too much to the point of distraction and a lot of nervous movement with my feet. The good news is that I've been memorizing my speeches, something I never thought I'd be able to do. I am determined to become not just a competent speaker, but a speaker who is awesome.
It is good to read about your speaking events from last year…and good to see you've done some paid gigs…that is awesome!! I really wish you the best because it is so awesome to get paid to do what you love.
Hello! thanks for the opportunity.
Recently, I gave a 5 minute talk, a call-to-action about the World Partnership Walk in McGill University to some 50 students and several other adults. When I was writing down what I was going to say, my heart started beating fast. It was because for the first time that I've told a story, It meant something to me. It was about empowerment. It was about hope, and about confidence in the future. It was about the generosity and leadership. For the first time, I realized that I could speak about the positive side of international development and refrain from using words like “poverty” and emotional blackmailing. Because, truly, in the 25 years (going on 26) that the World Partnership Walk has been around, Canadians have shown nothing but proactive, meritocratic involvement in the issue.
So, this is what I spoke to. Canadian values, and the results. I went straight to the specific examples, down to the names and the work that was done. The story I told was of Kokilaben from a village in Gujarat, and how Canadians had empowered them to ask questions about their future and make choices about what was important to them.
I saw many smiling faces, and many nods. While I wish I had water before stepping up, I didn't get a chance. I'm never one to be frightened by large audiences and I remember being on stage since I was at least 4 years old. That's a long way back, and quite a good memory to have. But, for the first time in years I was nervous, because I was going to make myself vulnerable to my audience about how I felt. My passion about the walk. The challenge was then to talk enough to make a personal connection, but not too much to make it a sap story.
The time limit was 4 minutes. I had to get all the key messages of the Walk across, and do it in a setting that did not allow for interaction. I guess the words and the smile were motivating enough to call people to action.
I ended the speech by telling my audience why I walk. They were the reason why I walk.
Please take a look at http://www.worldpartnershipwalk.com and get involved.
Thank you for the opportunity to share.
Hello! thanks for the opportunity.
Recently, I gave a 5 minute talk, a call-to-action about the World Partnership Walk in McGill University to some 50 students and several other adults. When I was writing down what I was going to say, my heart started beating fast. It was because for the first time that I've told a story, It meant something to me. It was about empowerment. It was about hope, and about confidence in the future. It was about the generosity and leadership. For the first time, I realized that I could speak about the positive side of international development and refrain from using words like “poverty” and emotional blackmailing. Because, truly, in the 25 years (going on 26) that the World Partnership Walk has been around, Canadians have shown nothing but proactive, meritocratic involvement in the issue.
So, this is what I spoke to. Canadian values, and the results. I went straight to the specific examples, down to the names and the work that was done. The story I told was of Kokilaben from a village in Gujarat, and how Canadians had empowered them to ask questions about their future and make choices about what was important to them.
I saw many smiling faces, and many nods. While I wish I had water before stepping up, I didn't get a chance. I'm never one to be frightened by large audiences and I remember being on stage since I was at least 4 years old. That's a long way back, and quite a good memory to have. But, for the first time in years I was nervous, because I was going to make myself vulnerable to my audience about how I felt. My passion about the walk. The challenge was then to talk enough to make a personal connection, but not too much to make it a sap story.
The time limit was 4 minutes. I had to get all the key messages of the Walk across, and do it in a setting that did not allow for interaction. I guess the words and the smile were motivating enough to call people to action.
I ended the speech by telling my audience why I walk. They were the reason why I walk.
Please take a look at http://www.worldpartnershipwalk.com and get involved.
Thank you for the opportunity to share.