I gave a really bad speech tonight!
I wasn’t sure whether I should post what I wrote last night. So I waited until this morning. Candour is generally the right route though so here goes….
I am waiting for a train. I gave a speech tonight. I thought it was pretty rubbish. People said it was good. They even clapped. But I knew better. Tonight I committed many sins about which I would have been really “direct and robust” or “frank and open” had a client of mine committed them.
I fell into two black holes. Lost the plot once. I missed 2 REALLY cracking phrases that I wanted to bring into the speech. They would have really nailed down what the message I wanted to convey. I had a hand in one pocket. And I referred to some notes. And I spent less than 5 minutes preparing for a 3 minute speech.
Could I have been better? Absolutely! Could I have benefited from some training? You bet? More preparation? OHHHHHH YES!!!!!!
But lets look at this again. Even if I had done all those things – how good would I have been? Good? Surely yes – I have been doing this for over 15 years. Much better? Clearly. Great? Hmmmm………
How well can Simon Cowell sing? My guess is probably not that well. But, is that his job? Is that why he is so rich and so successful? Many people only see Simon as the bad guy, the cutting critic. His success comes from the way in which he rebuilds his clients and takes their potential and maximises their potential. Only his clients see that.
Along time ago I was a tennis coach. Most of my tennis players were as good as me or better. My job was to coach them and make them better. And I was better at that, than I was at playing against them. Otherwise I would have been beating them on the courts and that would have been my career instead.
Coaching, constructively critiquing and improving their game was where my value lay. And as a speech writer and presentation / pitch trainer my value lies in what I add to other people’s speeches and presentations – not how well I can speak or present.
To my audience – I am sorry. I am a professional speech coach. Not a professional speaker.
