From where does inspiration come? For those who make the effort to be aware of all that is going on around us each day, to learn from conversations with clients, customers, prospects, friends, family, and to stay attuned to the deeper meaning in the personal issues of life there is found a wealth of material for speeches. Life is such an amazing school! Inherent in our daily activities are opportunities to learn if only we will receive the education.
Bear in mind it takes sensitivity to redeem the input and convert it to a message capable of stirring motivation in an audience. We must be sensitive to what can be gleaned from the input received if we are to turn the information into a universally profitable experience.
As an example - let's say you are in a bit of a rush for lunch and decide to drop in to a fast food restaurant. The best option is an establishment with an indoor play area for children, and the only available table is near the playground. While seated for lunch, you have set a goal of checking your smartphone for emails and text messages, and to returning those which can be addressed quickly. Thirty minutes is allotted for lunch and smartphone tasks then it's back on the highway.
After ordering your meal, making yourself comfortable, and fine tuning the delicate interplay of phone, fries, napkin, sandwich, napkin, and drink, the unexpected occurs. On this particular day, you have arrived at a restaurant which caters to a large, local daycare. A portion of every dollar spent on meals today will be re-directed to the daycare facility to buy supplies.
Not only is the restaurant suddenly flooded with participating parents, but also the objects of the corporate affection, dozens of four and five-year olds. You are seated at the epicenter of seismic activity! Suddenly, it is impossible to remain engaged in your business as you are only desiring to choke down the food fast and get back on the road...texting can wait.
But wait! All around you are crowd control measures you were once practiced in when you took your own children to the local burger or chicken joint for a quick bite. The frenetic pace of children running to and fro, the parents thinking little Sally or Tommy will actually eat the food in front of them, the child crying for no apparent reason, and the other patrons who share your pending indigestion are a live show for which you have a front row seat!
Take mental notes, jot down ideas as they come, but whatever you do please do not miss the opportunity to absorb this small slice of life, and to take from it lessons for a future audience. The only lesson might be a greater need to slow down and stop rushing, but that's a speech. The laughter of children; their tremendous energy level; beleaguered parents; their diminishing energy level; and the efforts of the restaurant staff are all ripe for lessons you may add to your speaking repertoire.
Be alert friends! Your portfolio of speech programming is increasing all around you. A buffet of material unfolds each day to those who are open to the inspiration. Be one of those who knows inspiration when it arrives...and learns from it.
Fearlessly,
JD
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Design, Purpose, Passion, Destiny
We have a very specific design, although our individual designs are all different. My physical design includes my appearance, the way I prefer to dress (www.pinterest.com/jdthespeaker), how my brain processes and absorbs information, and how my lungs, diaphragm, vocal chords, and tongue turn sound into speech. My design is also intangible. I have life and educational experiences unique to me, related to both nurture and nature, which inform my knowledge base, worldview, and opinions.
My purpose is linked to my design. Because of my design, my purpose is more achievable. With a different appearance, voice quality, or ability to translate thought into speech my specific purpose would either be impossible or different. But that is not so. My purpose is to encourage others. I have coined the phrase, "Be better than you've been, and do more than you've done," to identify the goal of my message.
The message finds an audience based upon more than just design and purpose however. There has to be passion for a thing to drive its pursuit. Without the passion to see men and women become all they are meant to be in this life, my design and purpose would fail. If you have no demonstrable passion for a particular pursuit - any moral and legal one will do - then your design is wasted, and your purpose will go unfulfilled. However those of us who do have a passion are led directly and correctly into a life of destiny.
You see none of us are here by accident. No cosmic coincidence has resulted in this planet's ridiculously amazing and diverse flora and fauna. There is design inherent in all the natural world. I laugh sometimes at the thought of wild animals having a 'fear' of man (we can't out-run them, out-swim them, out-climb them, without weapons defend ourselves, and should by no means, apart from being well-armed, attack them).
But because life on this planet follows that design (our dominion), we are free to discern our purpose, pursue our passion, and live a life of destiny. The destiny of the person who embraces their design, identifies their purpose, and pursues their passion is a journey comprised of learning and living. Consciously or not, with passion in our lives we will work each day to be better than we have been, and to do more than we have done.
I know people whose design and purpose has resulted in passions for hunting, music, making friends, sports, real estate, selling, starting businesses, acting, medicine, law, and on and on. (hint: there's a reason not everyone wants to be a doctor...) We have different designs, purposes to achieve, and passions to propel us. Our destiny awaits!
For more on defining YOUR passion, and living YOUR destiny, read my book, Be Known for Your DEEDS. It's available on Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com.
Fearlessly,
JD
My purpose is linked to my design. Because of my design, my purpose is more achievable. With a different appearance, voice quality, or ability to translate thought into speech my specific purpose would either be impossible or different. But that is not so. My purpose is to encourage others. I have coined the phrase, "Be better than you've been, and do more than you've done," to identify the goal of my message.
The message finds an audience based upon more than just design and purpose however. There has to be passion for a thing to drive its pursuit. Without the passion to see men and women become all they are meant to be in this life, my design and purpose would fail. If you have no demonstrable passion for a particular pursuit - any moral and legal one will do - then your design is wasted, and your purpose will go unfulfilled. However those of us who do have a passion are led directly and correctly into a life of destiny.
You see none of us are here by accident. No cosmic coincidence has resulted in this planet's ridiculously amazing and diverse flora and fauna. There is design inherent in all the natural world. I laugh sometimes at the thought of wild animals having a 'fear' of man (we can't out-run them, out-swim them, out-climb them, without weapons defend ourselves, and should by no means, apart from being well-armed, attack them).
But because life on this planet follows that design (our dominion), we are free to discern our purpose, pursue our passion, and live a life of destiny. The destiny of the person who embraces their design, identifies their purpose, and pursues their passion is a journey comprised of learning and living. Consciously or not, with passion in our lives we will work each day to be better than we have been, and to do more than we have done.
I know people whose design and purpose has resulted in passions for hunting, music, making friends, sports, real estate, selling, starting businesses, acting, medicine, law, and on and on. (hint: there's a reason not everyone wants to be a doctor...) We have different designs, purposes to achieve, and passions to propel us. Our destiny awaits!
For more on defining YOUR passion, and living YOUR destiny, read my book, Be Known for Your DEEDS. It's available on Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com.
Fearlessly,
JD
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Passion Without Action, Say It Ain't So!
Shortly after I had the revelation of my design and purpose - to encourage men and women to be better than they've been and do more than they've done by defining their passion (design/purpose), then living it out, I had another revelation. I discovered that passion defined did not equate to passion activated.
Case in point, Jack. Jack's story is told in my new book, Be Known for Your DEEDS (available on Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com). Unlike me, Jack did not have to ask of the Lord why he is here. He knew as soon as I asked. Without hesitation or equivocation, Jack said his passion is movies. I asked if he wanted to act, direct, produce or what. His answer was D, none of the above.
Jack just loved watching movies. In theaters, on cable, VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray, it mattered not; he just loved watching movies. In response to my assertion that once passion is defined a person will either make a living from that passion, or have a job they enjoy which funds their passion, Jack said, "So how am I supposed to make a living from watching movies?"
I accepted the challenge, and said, "Become a professional movie critic." He scoffed at that suggestion, and then scoffed at my assertion that he could still be 'passion-employed' by contacting a local free newspaper, and offering to be their unpaid movie critic. I suspected that if a free paper had such a column it was most likely syndicated. How beneficial to end the syndication fee, and have local talent on the ground for free!
Jack wasn't interested. It took me a minute to process that. I had been excited beyond measure when my passion was defined! Here I am four years later blogging about it. Jack didn't believe a newspaper would do what I suggested (no call to check??), and besides why do something and not get paid? Call me old-fashioned, but isn't there room for enjoyment in life apart from monetary gain?
Sure there is! It's why we volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, coach our children's soccer team, learn to ski, go rock-climbing, buy a bicycle, jump out of a plane, or...watch movies! Hello!
So if your passion is defined - do something about it. It makes absolutely no sense to me that anyone could know their passion (design/purpose), and do nothing. Just cannot wrap my brain around that kind of indifference. It's not a hobby being contemplated it's the actual key to one's destiny and reason for being! Ah, well. You can lead a horse to water....
Fearlessly,
JD
Case in point, Jack. Jack's story is told in my new book, Be Known for Your DEEDS (available on Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com). Unlike me, Jack did not have to ask of the Lord why he is here. He knew as soon as I asked. Without hesitation or equivocation, Jack said his passion is movies. I asked if he wanted to act, direct, produce or what. His answer was D, none of the above.
Jack just loved watching movies. In theaters, on cable, VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray, it mattered not; he just loved watching movies. In response to my assertion that once passion is defined a person will either make a living from that passion, or have a job they enjoy which funds their passion, Jack said, "So how am I supposed to make a living from watching movies?"
I accepted the challenge, and said, "Become a professional movie critic." He scoffed at that suggestion, and then scoffed at my assertion that he could still be 'passion-employed' by contacting a local free newspaper, and offering to be their unpaid movie critic. I suspected that if a free paper had such a column it was most likely syndicated. How beneficial to end the syndication fee, and have local talent on the ground for free!
Jack wasn't interested. It took me a minute to process that. I had been excited beyond measure when my passion was defined! Here I am four years later blogging about it. Jack didn't believe a newspaper would do what I suggested (no call to check??), and besides why do something and not get paid? Call me old-fashioned, but isn't there room for enjoyment in life apart from monetary gain?
Sure there is! It's why we volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, coach our children's soccer team, learn to ski, go rock-climbing, buy a bicycle, jump out of a plane, or...watch movies! Hello!
So if your passion is defined - do something about it. It makes absolutely no sense to me that anyone could know their passion (design/purpose), and do nothing. Just cannot wrap my brain around that kind of indifference. It's not a hobby being contemplated it's the actual key to one's destiny and reason for being! Ah, well. You can lead a horse to water....
Fearlessly,
JD
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