Enthusiasm Goes A Long Way When You Give A Speech

I was one of two speakers at the FedEx "My Story Austin" event.  I kicked off the program with a short talk on "telling your story".  I believe that any time you know your purpose when talking to others you will have more success (this is true when giving a speech to a large group or just talking to someone one-on-one).  Too often people just spout off statistics and company history without any regard to the reason they are sharing information.

If you are not properly telling your corporate story, then you are allowing your competition to write the ending!

I shared the stage with local entreprneur Gabe Krajicek (CEO of BankVue).  I saw Gabe speak at the ACG luncheon in July 2011 and wrote about his presentation on this blog. I mentioned in that post that when he takes the stage he is like an 11-year-old kid who is telling you about his new bicycle.  He is enthusiastic, energetic, and delightfully focused on sharing his story.

Enthusiasm goes a long way when you speak.  Too often data is dumped to us via spreadsheets, graphs and statistics.  People talk, but here is no passion, purpose or reason behind their words.

Few people are inspired by charts.

Listening to Gabe talk about why entrepreneurs cannot fail was captivating.  He joked that he was worried about following a "professional speaker" on the agenda (yes, I am a "professional speaker"... and I am proud of that job title!), but he delivered an amazing and inspirational talk that touched the soul of everyone in the audience.

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When you speak do you hide behind the slides and statistics?  Of do you allow your passion to be front and center?  The answer to this question will tell you if you are blah or fantastic when you open your mouth.

Have A Great Day.

thom singer