Just about everyone I know is aware that I decided to become a professional public speaker at the end of last year.
I was excited at the prospect of being able to impart knowledge that was valuable in the corporate arena which would give a new perspective, a new angle or something fresh that would allow a company or individuals within that company to have a new way or a fresh viewpoint and inspire change and a positive direction.
But with any new venture there are uncertainties and difficulties. I struggled with these for 4 months but in April I met one of South Africa’s premier speakers, Michael Jackson. He refers to himself as “the other Michael Jackson” for obvious reasons. A more enthusiastic and driven person it would be hard to find. I thought I was inspired already but 30 minutes with him and I was more determined that ever that this is what I want to do. You can find out more about Michael at www.theothermichaeljackson.com.
In the 8 months since that fateful meeting an idea he had has been developing has come to fruition : To bring on a small core of new speakers who are competent and able to bring value to the corporate market. Michael presents over 150 times a year and the demand is greater than he is able to give – unfortunately there are just so many bricks one man can lay in a day!
This culminated in a “speaker bootcamp” this past weekend in the wonderful town of Barberton. That new core of speakers are: Tove Kane, who has a along and distinguished record in broadcasting; Cyrus Rogers, a giant of a man who is a producer for Summit TV; Shelley Walters, a radio personality from a community station in Port Elizabeth and, of course, myself.
We have finalised our presentations with more in the pipeline in time to come.
Two areas that must be addressed by anyone who is working in a professional environment as well as the professional environment itself are:
Change: For thousands of years the idea has existed that “change is the only constant”. This is probably more starkly true today than ever before in our history. Change today is so rapid it boggles the mind and because of this being left behind is rather easy. How is that change managed? This is the subject of our first presentation, The Challenge of Change.
In the world of customer interaction the change described above is being driven more than anything else by Social Media. Social Media itself is growing and changing so rapidly it’s difficult to get a grip on it. Enterprises have found themselves disengaged and that is dangerous territory in the social media age. The influence of consumer technology will disrupt corporate identity. And this forms the subject of our second presentation: Connecting business to the new economy through Social Media.
We are being managed by Unique Speaker Bureau who manage a small and very select group of speakers. They are at www.uniquespeakerbureau.com
It’s a very exciting time and done well there is prosperity for everyone. I cannot wait!
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