Last Thursday, February 24th at 7:30 a.m. I gave my First LIVE paid speech in front of a room of people at Paris Casino in Las Vegas. I was there for the Awards and Personalization Association’s education day. I was one of the speakers on the docket. No one threw anything at me, and no one walked out, so I guess I did ok? Personally, I gave myself a “C.” There is much to improve and plenty room for growth. I was mildly disappointed with the turnout. Less than half of the people who registered for the program showed up. I think 7:30 a.m. in Vegas didn’t help? I did have a number of people come up to me after to obtain a signed copy of my book and to to thank me.
My topic was “What I learned in 2020 in dealing with crisis.” It was based off of my first book – A Leap Year of Firsts, that was published last month. I had done a few virtual speeches and one live one that was unpaid as practice. The prior speeches were a half hour to forty-five minutes. My allotment of time for this live version was an hour and a half. I had a few teaching sessions with my speech coach leading up to the event. We decided on an hour talk followed by a half-hour of a workshop and questions on Core Values, which I touched on in my previous blog entry. Relying on these Core Values was #3 in the 5 points I was covering.
I arrived at the room an hour early to set up my stage. I had my one-page layout of my talk that was populated with pictograms which keyed my talking points. I have a few cue cards I had printed for my audience to cover the 5 points I learned in 2020 in dealing with a crisis, which were as follows:
- Limit your Pity Party
- Ask Good Questions of yourself and trusted others
- Rely on your Core Values
- Sleep on it
- Work the Problem!
I covered a number of wanted firsts that led up to a number of unwanted firsts that the pandemic of 2020 provided me starting in March. The crisis that COVID-19 created, also provided a learning opportunity on dealing with a crisis. The crisis of my employees losing their jobs and me losing my life’s work. This was what I was sharing in the hopes of helping others who may encounter a crisis in their lives. It was my “first” paid speech! I guess I can now regard myself as an official professional speaker now?