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Know Who You Are

At the Rochester event I spoke at this past weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting and hearing speak a most inspiring and human individual who kicked off the event with a very motivational talk on Success. We have exchanged e-mails and spoken on the phone and shared a couple of quotes;

"Only a ghost wallows around in his past, explaining himself with descriptors based on al ife already lived. You are what you choose today, not what you have chosen before" – Unknown

"Sometimes things happen to you that are no fault of yours. But if you don't do anyhting aobut it by the next day, it becomes your fault" – Alan Weiss

As I listened to his delivery and style and then reflected afterward on mine I came to the realization that I am not an inspirational or motivational speaker in the same sense.

Certainly I look to motivate and inspire people to take action about their personal brands, but I do this through providing information and resources – many clients and colleagues consider me to be a 'human Google' , I used to call it a mind of useless information – but others do not see it that way – now neither do I.

My stories and examples come from personal experience and client stories – real life impacted by the changes in the world. With my own 360 others identified my attributes as Connected, Genuine, Open minded, Supportive, Resourceful, Experienced.

It makes me an Informational Speaker – but what else? Thoughts?

5 thoughts on “Know Who You Are”

  1. I believe a speaker is a speaker whether informative, inspirational or motivational. Personally I do not think the adjective is that important. You speak because you want to share. If you put yourself out there to speak in front of an audience, whether you like it or not you are going to create a reaction no matter how small…that’s the beauty of it. My point is that everybody is unique and so is the delivery of a speech. Your style will be different from others but at the end of the day, what you do is inspire people in your own unique way.

  2. Having trained under you for my Reach Strategist Certification – I would say you are extremely motivational. It comes from your own story – your elevator speech that you shared with all of us.
    It put much more meaning and passion into what you were accomplishing with us in teaching us about branding, finding our brand and extracting our strengths.
    It was motivating to work with someone who was “living it” and I feel honored and blessed to have connected with you! As a mother of three boys, you have no idea the impact you have had in my life!

  3. Paul,
    I was at the Rochester event. As a result of my attendance there, I posted my picture on Linked In. This was a big step for me, since one of the considerations in letting me go from a previous job was that I did not like having my photo taken or posted online (I want my investment returns to speak, not whether I am interested in fly fishing or basket weaving).
    I worked at the same company as the other speaker you mentioned (so I had heard him speak a few times before). I think there is something to gain from his style, but your style was far more motivational or inspirational for me. Maybe it is because I have a mental barrier to someone who is a preacher. Maybe I really like the fact that you implemented the powerpoint style(pictures, less than six words per slide) that I have been wanting to try for a long time. Maybe I find a British accent soothing. Maybe you’re teaching things that I resist but deep down it is what I want to really learn.
    Whatever the reason, it worked for me. And that’s the main point — what inspirational for a person is highly determined by personal taste. De gustibus non est disputandum is not just a negative statement — it is an exhortation for us to recognize that the universe has created enough variation that our personal style will work for atleast 1000 other people.
    For me, some vague pep talk is not very inspiring. Rather, I want a feeling that *I* can do it. And a picture of your brother sporting a mohawk talks to me far better than a set of quotes about me choosing my own path, blah, blah blah.
    Cheers,
    Vivek

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