Speak to Inspire

There were 1,800 students. Temperature was a bit hot, students were fanning themselves. Plus, the lights were switched off except for the spotlight that was directed on the stage. Perfect scenario to sleep or talk with your seatmates.

My prayer was, "Lord, I want to reach out to each and every student -- including the students seated at the farthest part of the gym. I don't want anyone to be left out, not even one."

When my name was called, I scanned the audience and I started speaking.

During my one-hour talk, I felt the audience and I felt they were so engaged and enthusiastic. We connected. They laughed. They took down notes. They listened. They asked questions during the Open Forum.

A week later, I received this email from one of the students.

Here's the English translation of the highlighted text:

"Even if we were seated at the farthest part of the gym, we managed to listen to every word you shared and imparted with us."

Her email validated my prayer -- I was able to reach even those who were seated at the farthest part of the gym.

Why is it important to improve our communication skills?

Let me share with you three stories:

Story #1: The boring speaker

A few years ago, I was in a university outside Manila. I just gave a talk and I was now seated with the audience.

The next speaker was on stage.

At first, the students were engaged, maybe for about 2 minutes. And then I heard the chatters and the speaker continued to speak.

The speaker then faced the screen where his powerpoint was projected and he was so engaged in discussing his topic…but the audience was disengaged.

That’s when I realised how challenging it is to sit in a talk and listen to someone who is… uhmmm….boring.

Story #2: The highly successful entrepreneur who was reluctant to speak

On another occasion, I attended a 3-day entrepreneurs summit. On Day 3, a highly successful entrepreneur was speaking in front. She was an MBA holder from one of the most prestigious universities in the U.S.

I tried so hard to concentrate and listen to her but I just couldn’t. Why? Because her ideas were not organised.

To make matters worse, she didn't show any enthusiasm. There was no passion at all. It's almost as if she was just forced to speak.

Too bad, because the attendees paid for the summit. I paid for the summit. And the speaker had all the chance to inspire, instruct, and influence. She had the air time. She had our attention, at least in the beginning.

Story #3: The CEO who read his 3-minute speech

On another occasion, I attended a big event wherein the keynote speaker was a very popular and well loved speaker in the Philippines. Right before his talk, the CEO of the company that organized the event gave his Opening Remarks.

He held the mic and he began reading his speech. I was waiting for him to glance at the audience and connect with the audience but he didn't. He just kept on reading his speech. I timed his speech and it was 3 minutes.

I'm sure he prepared for the speech as evidenced by the fact that he had time to write it. But the speech was 3 minutes only. He could have memorized it from the heart and spoke from the heart.

I have so much respect for the three people I mentioned. I knew they did their best. They mustered enough courage to speak in front. They must have spent so much time preparing for their respective talks. They didn’t mean to bore the audience. But perhaps because of lack of training in public speaking, and lack of honest and constructive evaluation for their speeches, they were not able to deliver their respective speeches/talks effectively.

My heart goes out to them because like what I shared earlier, I was also like them when I started. Maybe worst because I cried in my first speech. There's one more blooper of mine I'd like to share with you.

When I was still an employee in a bank, I applied for an internal vacancy within our company. I really liked the job. I liked the boss as well.

The day of the interview came. When the interviewer started asking me questions, I was dumbfounded. I was so nervous, I stuttered. I couldn't organize my thoughts. After the interview, I felt so bad about myself, I wanted to vanish. As you know, I didn't get the job.

I thank God I experienced those because they really pushed me to train in speaking. After 11 years of training, a lot of things have changed.

Today, I LOVE speaking in public. Modesty aside, I can tell that the audience love listening to my talks, too, as evidenced by how engaged they were during the talk. I'd also usually get tons of emails from happy participants. And right after my talk, I love accommodating the participants when they ask for selfies because I get to talk to them up close. The bonus part? Companies pay me handsomely to inspire their employees through my talks.

There's this one company that hired me to speak at their 3rd annual summit. During their first two summits, they had Francis Kong and Anthony Pangilinan, respectively, as their speakers. On their 3rd annual summit, they hired me. They were so generous, they paid me a 6-figure amount for a 2-3 hours talk.

My friend, communication skill is so crucial because we communicate all the time -- with our families, friends, boss, colleagues, clients, students, teachers, the person behind the counter, and so on.