Motivational Speaker

I’ve got this funny story to tell.  It forms part of a presentation that I give on the true secret of success, but that’s for another time.  When I was growing up, I went to an all-boys boarding school. Now, this may not seem so fantastic, however, between the ages of fourteen and seventeen, most males develop an excessive quantity of testosterone, which, given that I was in a boarding school for just boys in the middle of the country, girls were a rare commodity. So a group of us from my Form 7 class tried to come up with a plan to see more girls. We couldn’t just run away because often we had roll calls.

So, what we decided to do was enter a team into the Auckland Secondary Schools debating competition, which in itself again may not sound so fantastic.  But you’ve got to remember that the boarding school that I went to was full of large Maori boys like me, who lived, ate, and breathed Rugby Union. Debating was probably the last activity that we would ever consider to undertake.

But we saw it as a cunning plan to get out of school, get around other schools that had girls, and mix and mingle. Now, our idea of debating was a group of people having an argument in a controlled environment. None of us had any idea that it involved three people in an affirmative and a negative side and, as part of the team, stand up and speak in public.

Now, once again thinking back, this shy Maori boy was terrified of public speaking. But the things you do, with raging testosterone floating through your system, to meet girls.

It forced me to learn a new skill; to stand up in public and speak. And from those early days, I have developed and honed this skill, to the extent that I am now able to stand in in front of small groups and large audiences and give presentations AT WILL.

From inspiring a class of year 12 students at high school to strive to be their very best, to motivating a 5,000 seat theatre full of budding personal trainers that finding something you’ll gladly do for free is the best job in the world.

If you’re looking for a speaker to come along to your next event, whether it’s a team breakfast, or a three day team building camp, feel free to give me a call.  having run numerous events and been invited to speak at many more, I’m sure there’s an interesting topic floating around in my head that will keep your audience on edge till the end.