Reflections on Speaking in Washington State

Sheena and I just got back from a week of speaking in the Eastern part of Washington State. It was incredible experience, and below are some reflections and lessons learned:

1. Eastern Washington has a desert climate, its population is rural, its culture is conservative, and its economy is agriculture-based.
   
2. There is a very large population of Mexicans who work in the agriculture industry. Many of them are undocumented. Being undocumented often leads to background fear of Immigration coming to deport them.
   
3. 'Low-Income' isn't a culture. When I visit many schools that are in low-income areas of New York City, I often see bars around windows with security at the door. Even though all the schools we spoke at were in low-income areas, the communities and the schools were beautiful and looked middle-class.
   
4. Many of the students were extremely hard-working. Some of them wake up in the early morning to work in the field, go to school, and then go back to the field.
   
5. Family is an extremely important cultural value. While some students want to do everything they can do to move away to more opportunities, others are willing to sacrifice economic opportunities so they can stay close to their family and help them.

My mom came to this country when she was seventeen years-old as Jewish refugee from Poland. She did not speak English. She did not have any money. Her parents were not allowed to come with her. Starting from there, she was able to graduate college, become a computer programmer, and raise me by herself. She instilled me with the values of hard-work, fighting for freedom, and believing in myself in the face obstacles.

WIth this said, I think borders should be opened up. America is a country of immigrants and the values of hard-work and hope are a result of this.

Posted at 05:12 PM | Comments (4) | Top

January 19, 2006

Promo Video

We just finished uploading our promo video online. You can view it at http://www.successmanifesto.com/speaking/promo.html.

While we don't have the bandwidth to stream a full speaking engagement, we're looking into distributing an engagement via Google Video.

Posted at 01:38 PM | Comments (2) | Top

July 31, 2005

Speaking to a Faith-Based Group

Yesterday, I was in Nashville Tennessee speaking to the CEO Academy, a faith-based group.

Beforehand, I must admit that I was nervous. I knew that the audience was going to be 300+ people and range in age from 7-70. I knew that it would include:

• Grade-, Middle-, and High School students.
  
• Parents of those students.
  
• Local business people.
  
• Local council members.

Furthermore, I knew that the audience was essentially going to be 100% Christian with me being the only Jewish person.

To cut the end, it was, perhaps, my best speaking engagement ever! I felt that I did pretty well and also many people stood up after I spoke (side note: I think I should have waited at the podium for the few to turn into a full standing ovation, but that's beside the point). There are a lot of speaking techniques that one can do that I'm learning from incredible speakers such as Jason Dorsey and Michael Fortino. But at a key level, I think practice and willingness to make each talk a little better and a little more out of your comfort zone are very important.

Also, a practice that I've always followed before each talk is meditating, praying, and visualizing for about 2-3 hours. In the end, when you're up on stage and you're not using any notes, you're essentially doing improv and going with the flow of thoughts and audience reactions. This is similar to any conversation you have during the day. I know that preparing can help some, but I think one has to surrender control and pray/hope that the words and feelings that come up will be those that have the maximum, positive impact on the audience.

Posted at 03:45 PM | Comments (4) | Top