“A 25 year-old Toastmasters world champion, a litigator who is a former drug-addicted alcoholic prostitute, a science teacher who sends geysers of Diet Coke spewing onto the Ellen DeGeneres Show and a famous comedian walk into a bar at the San Francisco Airport Marriott.” So writes Molly Cox.
Welcome to my world – the National Speakers Association Winter Workshop.
My colleague, Molly Cox, found just perfect words to describe this collection of extroverts, introverts under recovery, and just plain amazing people. She called it “the circus–the only place we feel normal.”
You have to understand. We’re not strange. We’re just wired different. After all, we’re the folks who CHOOSE to do what some folks say is the number one fear in the world: speaking in public. (OK–so dying is #3. Actually, what we all fear is dying on the platform. )
But seriously, gang. You’d love my buddies. There are folks like Tim Richardson, a hard-wired guy who rides marathons for kicks, homeschools his kids, and is committed to having us focus on the real meaning of being RICH. And then, there’s Robert Fripp, a gentle soul ranked in the top 50 guitarists in the world (according to Rolling Stone Magazine). Robert taught us how to integrate the world of a musician with the world of a speaker. Here’s a guy who “appears” to be a rocker and is, instead, a profoundly spiritual soul who utters such gems of wisdom that I cry with their profound impact:
“Musicians don’t play music. The music plays the musician.”
“Silence is a bridge between worlds.”
“The foundation of learning is play.”
OK–there you have it. I played last weekend in the circus of the National Speakers Association. And in the play, I learned. Call me and I’ll tell you the lessons.