Hi friend,

Exactly as the last week's email, right now, I am sending this update to a handful of people

1. All of whom I have spoken to about my goal over the last 2 weeks AND 

2. Who have expressed their unabridged support, interest and enthusiasm about my goal. 

Thank YOU for being one of them. 

Please don't hesitate to respond, share your thoughts or just say hi. Or let me know you want no more updates. Two-way communication is always much more fun 🙌 - thank you for all the messages so far. 

The purpose of this 100-day challenge 🚀 is to get me to say “I speak for a living, I am a professional speaker” by Dec 20, 2024. 

***

This week has been fun - 3 observations! 

• 1)✨ It feels like that once you commit to something, the entire universe starts conspiring to make it happen.

• 2)🍯 Also, I am fully aware how my energy level ebbs and flows so these are clearly my honeymoon weeks.

• 3) ☀️ I foresee some clouds and thunders show up in 3-5 weeks - as I know myself - but let’s bask in the sunshine while it lasts. 

😃 The Good (4x)

1. PRACTICE: This Wednesday gave me a serious taste of what a busy speaker’s day looks like.

• MC-ing (“Toastmastering”) an hour of programming at noon and another 2 hours in the evening, plus carrying significant responsibility in the events’ production, preparation and logistics had me end the day feeling pretty exhausted.

• But “good exhausted” as I felt that the energy I gave out touched the people I talked to and had an impact.

• I also watched the recordings and I feel I make progress in making it look effortless (= a sign of a professional 😊) and exuding confidence even under pressure

2. CONSOLIDATE EXPERIENCE: Finalized the list

of my (31) public speaking appearances over the last years - it’s a great way to remind myself I’ve been doing this for a while, now we are just doubling down! 

3. GET OUT THERE: Toastmasters club where I serve as the President received an inbound request

(out of the blue!) for a motivational speaker for an all-staff offsite of a medium-sized tech company and I immediately responded that we do have multiple speakers (me included) and that we should hop on a call to discuss the details.

• I don’t have high expectations from this, but I did play that ball! 

4. MINDSET UPGRADE: Walking down the Market Street,

I ran into a long-time buddy & former colleague, he excitedly shares that he will be keynoting at a conference in Norway next week + Met another nice guy who’s been doing keynote speaking for years

• → As Mandela says  “It feels impossible until it’s done” → Seeing friends, old and new, flourish in this space makes it feel much more attainable, it just takes some effort and time to get there. 

💡 The Bad (2x): 

But OMG there’s so much one needs to do. 

1. I had my big plans of drafting 3 speeches within the last week but I am nowhere close to it --> 🥇💩 The Holy Grail of The Shitty First Draft

I did come up with 4 working titles, some drafted notes as I got caught up in trying to come up with groundbreaking ideas on the #1 🤦🏼‍♀️

1. Building Social Capital

2. Why Community Matters More Than Ever

3. Storytelling as a Leadership Tool

4. How AI is shifting the ways we connect as humans

Needless to say, this is not good progress. My coach was not impressed either.

But I felt close-to-physical pain when I was told to:

• I felt like a country singer who is forced to rap.

• Or a ballerina that has to tap. 

• My blood boiled. That's too basic, that's not me. 

But…here I need to embrace what Monsieur Voltaire said 300 years ago:

Or what's my mantra for the next week.

2. Nowhere close to a good basic SPEAKER REEL  --> Need to research more how it's done (but keep my expectation realistic, perfection seeking, see the previous point)

• The videos I got from my two Wednesday events are …so so 😔

  . 

• Videos from my past engagements over the years are just not good either 🙁

  . 

• I am yet to learn how to get my speaking captured in the most flattering way. I mean an okay way.

Dammit, I guess I just need to remember 🥇💩.

🏃🏼‍♀️ Next Steps (for the coming week) 

1. CONTENT: Draft 15 min basic speech about your best tips for connecting with people and networking (6-8 slides, this is not what will be on your tombstone) by Tuesday.

   • Don't you even dare going deep into the topic AND/OR dabble in other topics before you get this done solid.

2. MARKETING: Create the first speaker reel from what you have and share with friends for feedback. Update your speaker bio to reflect the above speech.

3. SELLING: At least 2 more clear yet casual pitches

   • Someone might be just looking for someone just like you. You'd be helping them accomplish THEIR GOAL.

4. Keep catching up with friends and network - it actually starts feeling good sharing this journey with people I like. Much less scary than I had thought.

 💥 EXTRA: 

If you scrolled this far, I want to share an extra news nugget. 

On Sunday, after many far-too-expensive and barely-semi-satisfying visits to local hair stylists, I decided to take the plunge and... DIY. 

And no, you CANNOT BOOK ME for hair... yet 😅.