What I need you to know before, we Rise Above. Until a few months ago, I had a huge resistance to being called a ‘speaker’. Even though, I spoke publicly, having been part of organizations and groups for public speaking, and also speaking in public both at my corporate job and in my peace initiatives. But I never really liked to align myself with the word ‘speaker’.
It felt contrived. Hollywood. Hype.
You see, many of the speakers that I’ve seen on stage (and I’ve seen some of the best, and some of the worst), have this air about them – a confidence in their abilities that superseded what they actually spoke about. They stood on stage and performed a persona so far from who they actually were when they walked off the stage, it would make my intuitive antennae alarm bells go off.
I read an article recently about buying into they hype. At some point or another we all do it, but why?
The author went to say that people are just evolved primates. Their brains come pre-wired with a number of cognitive biases. Ones, that can be exploited, bamboozled and twisted to suit their desired outcome. These are short-cuts which were beneficial to the survival of our ancestors, but are counter productive to rational thinking. Marketing people, politicians and other ‘tricksters’ understand this and know how to manipulate the presentation of information to achieve the outcome they desire.
That all changed for me recently, for a few reasons. Rise Above.
First, when I gave my TEDx speech, I was coached specifically to be myself. Not to try and give so many statistics and relevant facts that it would make the audience’s eyes glaze over with my “knowledge”. Just tell my story. Seems that the TEDx organization was catching the same intuitive antennae buzz as I had around ‘speakers’.
Imagine that.
Imagine for a moment realizing that in fact you weren’t alone in hearing, seeing or feeling that buzz. Instead, it felt relatable, comfortable and perhaps even a degree of confirmation.
The second occurrence of this was when I went to the Matrix where Bob Proctor spoke. He was as humble and human from the stage as he was when I visited him at his home at the end of that same week.
No hype, no Hollywood.
And lastly, a woman at my work (whom I greatly admire) gave me some words of advice that I want to share with you;
Be yourself.
Rise Above.
And that is what this speech represents for me – an amalgamation of ALL my different aspects;
The Coach
The Corporate Career Woman
The Artist
The Author
The Eternal Optimist
No hype.
No Hollywood.
Just be yourself.
Thank you for taking the time to Rise Above with me.
Beautiful souls, I would love to hear from you by commenting below, reaching out to me on Facebook or alternatively, connecting with me privately.
Until then,
Be Brave,
Be Bold,
Beautiful,
Be you!
Much Love,
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.