Over the past two to three years, I have started a presentation titled “Passion and Vision: The ingredients of a successful Startup” mostly for entrepreneurs but as time passes I see this applicable to everything in our life.
Several months ago, I presented a workshop on Passion & Vision: Learn how to speak from the heart, and in this post, I will share with you the ingredients of being able to speak from the heart.
If you are a toastmaster, you are probably a pro speaker or not far, however many times what we lack and look for is that one special speech, the speech that moves hearts, and brings tears of joy or sorrow to people’s eyes. The speech that connects to everyone’s heart and is remembered forever. “I can see something in your eyes, but I don’t know what it is”. Do you remember that speech?
So what’s so special in some speeches and what makes them such a winning speech. I believe those speeches that are special come from the heart. Of course, all public speaking criteria have been met and the subject matter has been refined for the purpose but the material comes from the heart. It is those speeches that reach our hearts, talk to us, and remain in our memory.
And you ask how do we find or create those speeches that come from “the heart”?
This is the same question I ask entrepreneurs when they first start their entrepreneurial journey. So many times I see entrepreneurs start projects that they leave before they have even felt the first punch, so many times I see entrepreneurs misaligned with the whole concept of being an entrepreneur and so many times I see good projects go to waste. All because of two things. The lack of Passion & Vision.
If you are passionate about what you do and you have a vision for what you want to achieve then there will be no mountain high enough that you can’t climb, no valley low enough, and no river wide enough that you cannot cross. It does not matter what your passion is, you could be a scientist, poet, marathon runner, cyclist, or programmer if you are passionate about what you do, you do not need anyone to ask you to get up, you can do it even if you weren’t paid, even if there was no money and even if you failed, you would get up time after time after time.
Allow me to give you one example of a recent speech that you might have listened to. On the 25th of November 2021 I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a virtual presentation and listen to Bouchra Baibanou. The title of her speech “Seven Summits”. This may not have been your average pitch perfect Toastmaster competition speech, however, it was one that could have easily won any competition.
Bouchra Baibanou is a Moroccan mountain climber, the first Moroccan woman to climb Everest in 2017, the first person in Morocco to climb the Seven Summits, she is an author, coach, and inspiration speaker. However, the most important thing to note and understand is how she got there. Bouchra as she explained in her speech, did not start her career as a mountain climber. She was an engineer, a mother, and a wife. She had a job probably just like you and I, yet deep in her heart, something was screaming. It was a passion, a passion for climbing summits. She explains that against all odds, she started this journey, first summit, second summit, third summit, setbacks after setbacks, challenges, having to juggle family responsibility, sacrificing, and above all at all times keeping that vision. The vision of what her end goal is.
Her speech was breathtaking, every detail, second, minute, and day, from her training, the first climb to the final 7th summit. She touched our hearts with her passion for the mountain, her perseverance, and her courage to embark on a journey that most of us burry.
It all boils down to two things: Passion & Vision. She followed her passion and she had a vision. Once she had achieved it, the story came from her heart and touches all of our hearts. We are all looking for that one special speech but as she says we need to find the courage to take that first step to follow our passion. Dig deep, find your passion pin down your vision and the rest of the speech will simply flow from your heart.
Looking for an energiser speech for your group or looking for a workshop on how to give a speech to your peers. Contact me for more details.