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 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

The Fearless Speaker

In 2008 I was sitting in my Study at home when I asked the age old question, “Why am I here?” Have you ever wondered that very same thing? It seems to be a rhetorical question. After all haven’t we all contemplated our existence on this planet? Well I really wanted to know so I let the query run. By letting ‘the query run’ I mean that what I did not do was dismiss the question with a comment like, “Aw that’s crazy. Who can know such a thing?”

Ever been in a conversation when you and the person with whom you are speaking are trying to think of the name of a movie, an actor, a song, or whatever, and each of you are drawing a blank? I have been in that situation countless times. Invariably one of us says something to the affect, “I’ll probably think of it at two o’clock in the morning!” You both laugh and go on to another topic.

The computer between your ears, the human brain, continues to process that query, and sure enough a couple of days later you are enjoying lunch in a restaurant when the piece of information that had escaped you just pops into your mind! Then you call your friend, share the good news with them, and you both laugh again.

Well, I let the query ‘Why am I here’ continue to run. I did not dismiss it as an unanswerable question. Within days I began to get an unusual answer in the form of memories. Almost in chronological order memories of my having spoken to this group or that came back. It may have been as a child telling jokes to my parents’ friends, acting in a school play, performing on stage, or being a DJ at my college radio station, but there they all were.

It was a bit like the forest had been hidden by the trees. Of course I knew all about the dozens upon dozens of times I had spoken to an audience both informally and formally. I had simply regarded all those speaking opportunities as just the use of a gifting, but not as a life’s calling.

Having all of those ‘speaking’ memories arrive within days of the question, “Why am I here?” left me with no doubts I had received THE answer. I am here to speak. Okay, but what about? Here is where the answered question led to memories even more specific. My message would contain words of encouragement was the clear mandate and answer to the follow up.

Through the years I have been an encourager. I am naturally optimistic, and very often will approach people to whom I have never been introduced (you see, I have never met a stranger) to share a compliment, or otherwise say something positive.

With an answer to my simple but profound question in hand, I made the following decision: If I am on this planet to speak encouraging words to people then I will make doing so a life priority. Making it a life priority led me to determine that I would let nothing stand in the way of the simple objective to speak encouragement into the lives of as many people as possible. Therefore all doubts about my future path have been erased, and so too any fears about how to proceed.

I became The Fearless Speaker based upon this epiphany. Today, I assert to Event Planners, church leaders, speaker boards, and anyone else who hires or engages Speakers, that I will speak in any venue to any audience of any size at any time! I am The Fearless Speaker! My fearlessness is based upon the premise that my life’s message is one which men, women, and children need to hear.

We all need to be encouraged in who we are! This old world takes its toll on all of us. We get beat up daily by the cares of life, the drama of bills, bad jobs, poor relationships, and all the other nonsense that distracts from a peaceful life. Folks need to hear good news about themselves, and about their prospects for grabbing the brass ring of life.

How about you? Do you know why you are here on this rock we call Earth? If not then I strongly encourage you to find out the answer to this all-important question. Once you have made your discovery then be fearless in your determination to pursue your life’s purpose. It will enrich your life, and the lives of all those around you.

Fearlessly,

JD