Shared Experience

Recently, I received a landmark in my career as an author when the local chapter of a national book club named my latest book (Be Known for Your D.E.E.D.S.) as their selection of the month!  A HUGE honor!  To make the honor even more impactful I was invited to speak at their next meeting.  The great feeling just kept getting better!

Upon arriving at the venue (a restaurant) it rapidly became apparent the ambient noise level was going to be very high outside the reserved private room, and presenting a 30-minute program would be quite a challenge.  At this point in the story it would be easy to go on about the noise and the resulting difficulties, but let's change lanes and look at this from the perspective of the audience.

Too often, we, as speakers, tell of the drama we encounter when a venue, the material, or the audience are not set up perfectly for our style or message.  And those tales can be instructive, but rarely do we read (or hear) about the equally difficult challenge faced by the audience.  In this case, they were welcoming a speaker into a noisy space which necessitated they adjust their own ease and comfort to get the most out of the program.

My wife, Denise, had traveled with me and she commiserated with the club's members.  In so doing, she became a bridge to their view, and helped me to have a more balanced takeaway of what had just transpired.  Having this knowledge has me re-thinking experiential encounters.  Too often we only consider one perspective...our own.  Far fewer times do we even acknowledge that a speaking engagement, a graduation ceremony, a school play, a book signing, or other analogous gatherings have two sets of participants; those on stage and those in the audience.

In a very real sense both are dealing with the same experience.  For my moment in the sun as an author relishing the moment of recognition it was a noisy venue with wait-staff interruptions.  For the local members of the book club, guess what?  It was a noisy venue with wait-staff interruptions!  We both were immersed in an environment not in the least conducive to the planned program.

How often is it the case with so much else in life? The atmosphere of the restaurant is all wrong, there's no shade at the tennis match, the flight was delayed for mechanical reasons, etc.  We must try to get outside our own selves and attempt the viewpoint of others.  When we do we will draw closer to that place of understanding; that place of walking in the shoes of our brother or sister.  What could have been a disaster became a common bonding experience because each party realized we were united in the experience.  As a result, it was an unqualified success and both parties gained a fresh perspective about each other, and on the shared experience.

Fearlessly,
JD

The Dreaming Voice

Thursday, 19 April 2012. Towers High School in Decatur, Georgia. I was but one of the Speakers participating in Career Day under the direction of, and in concert with, The Stewart Foundation and the Administration of Towers High.

To three different groups of teenagers I was able to impart the truth that each of them has a dream in place. It tells them what they would like to be when they grow up. I call that dream their passion, or the voice inside. Most were able to let this voice speak, knowing their passion and dream precisely.

At Towers High there are pro-football players, pro track and field sprinters, cosmetologists, forensic pathologists, artists, actors, musicians, a young man who wants to be the first pro athlete to compete in the NFL and the NBA, and video game artists among other professions and occupations.

We talked about the nuts and bolts of living out their passions; the promise and the obstacles as well. The other speakers with whom I shared the ‘stage’ proved to be on the same page as I, and we delivered a cohesive message of hope.

A couple of months ago I addressed the lunch crowd of an Optimist Club with a message entitled, Caretakers of the Voice. The gist of my remarks established my sincere belief that we as adults are the caretakers of the voices inside our youth – our future.

Young people today have mighty dreams and aspirations! In high school, for the most part, no one has yet attempted to quash their dreams, written their dreams off as unachievable, assaulted the practicality of lofty aspirations, or insisted they stop dreaming and get a job. That’s good. On 19 April 2012, more than 140 speakers validated the dreams of our future, and encouraged them to continue to strive toward those dreams they now hold dear; to stubbornly hearken to the voice inside.

Interestingly, I was blessed to also encourage a teaching professional who desires to be a published author. Having self-published my first book, I was able to provide keen insights into the process, and deliver great hope to his efforts.  You see that voice inside does not go away with age, we just get too busy to listen any longer.  Four years ago I listened again and it has profoundly changed my life.  Let us therefore not only be caretakers of the ‘voice’ inside our youth, but in ourselves as well.

Fearlessly,
JD

When A Speech Writes Itself

As speakers, and those readers who desire to be, we are all aware of occasions when a speech seemingly writes itself. We are compelled to have pen in hand (or laptop in lap, for me) because a message we wish to deliver is bubbling up from within demanding to be given life.

To those of you who desire to be public speakers there is no coincidence at work here. It is a fact that as we open ourselves to the great responsibility to speak life, wisdom, and experience into the lives of our audiences, an equivalent volume of messages will come our way.

This very time of composition is precisely such an occasion. I am writing from courtside at a local Tennis Center. Surrounded by primarily by women playing doubles, I was drawn here to sit in the beautiful sunshine, feel the cool breeze of early Spring; and drawn here to write this note of encouragement to future speakers.

Your mission, and it should be viewed as thus, is to deliver the aforementioned words of life, wisdom and experience. Whenever you are blessed to present these great and encouraging words to your audience it is an affirmation that while listening, all may not hear.

Wisdom literature tells us that many times people have ears but do not hear. However there will always be at least one who will be transformed by what you have been given to say. Always. I learned this years ago when I wrote an evangelical column distributed via the internet.

I grew disenchanted that my subscriber list was not growing as quickly as I had anticipated. Within weeks of this rather selfish impulse I had a conversation with a young man who said, “Jerry sometimes the only church I get is the column you write.” BAM! One person. I realized that whether speaking or writing, those of us who are gifted, empowered, or otherwise given the responsibility to speak or compose are to do so as speaking or writing to one person.

This knowledge changes our preparation, and certainly our delivery. Our message becomes more personal, more immediate, and more satisfying to that one person in need of what we have to say.

Be encouraged seasoned speakers if you wonder if anyone is listening, and go forth those of you who desire to speak with this word of knowledge. In every audience there will be at least one hanging on your every word, and they are the reason we speak.

Fearlessly,
JD

The Voice Inside

Last December I was blessed to encourage a combination of children, tweens, teens, and adults during one of my Fearless Speaker clinics. The primary message delivered that day was that our voice is important. As my audience learned that day the physical voice manifested through the interplay of diaphragm, vocal chords, lungs, and tongue is only the most obvious voice we possess.

Our inner voice, the one we define as the voice of our spirit, soul, or mind, is of singular importance. We may call it a still, small voice or a whisper of the mind, but let us never call it inconsequential, irrelevant, or unimportant. This is the voice of dreams, aspirations, and inspiration.

Most recently I followed this theme as a keynote in a business luncheon and encouraged the men and women in attendance to listen once again to that voice. It was just four years ago that I listened and set upon the life change I now celebrate every single day! My goal each day is to be better than I have been, and to do more than I have done.

Find that voice of your dreams. They can still come true. This is my testimony….

Fearlessly,

JD