Public speaking – Walk Into the Future

Walking into the Future and making money moves!

Money moves

(Image by Nattanan Kanchanaprat from Pixabay)

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest”.

(Benjamin Franklin)

Urban Dictionary defines money moves as: a term used to describe a bad individual on the grind. This person works hard to make moves to elevate their financial success, fame, or status. Simple enough, huh?

It is normally associated with financial success but does not have to be limited to obtaining a financial payout to be considered a money move.

I have referred to several opportunities associated with my Walk into the Future as money moves. Never attempted to associate them with a financial outlook but always saw them as leading to future goals and outcomes. Money moves came up again in a conversation with a friend and we agreed I should detail how I am making money moves.

Mentoring and people building daily is the money move with the most impact for me. Enjoy sharing wisdom and helping my tree branches grow in their daily endeavors. Making a difference daily remains a goal for me and I look for additional ways to make this happen. Turns out helping others allows me to stretch my skills and continue to grow right along with them. I get to increase my knowledge while researching topics to leverage during my mentoring sessions. The money move centers around limitless growth for me and the tree branch and keeps us both moving forward.

Blogging weekly is the money move that provides me with a creative outlet. Never shared my thoughts or aspirations in a public platform before but turns out writing my ideas for others to read forces me to act. Sounds simple but there is not a way for me to back out of a process once I have written it down and shared on the Walk into the Future blog. My tree branches hold me accountable for the things I write, and I want to make positive things happen. A lot of things I have accomplished over the past two years are related to me generating content for the blog. Amazing how the written word bounds you to commit to the things you write. Turns out I had a lot to say but never really said anything—now you cannot get me to be quiet! 😊

Participating as a guest on multiple podcasts has been an unexpected money move but enjoy the process now. I am not a huge follower of podcasts but know the format continues to grow and is extremely popular. View my time on podcasts as another way to inspire people and grow new tree branches. People reach out to me on LinkedIn to let me know they enjoyed my work on the Mastering College to Career and Intern Whisperer podcasts. I have done multiple episodes with both podcast partners and look forward to shooting more soon. My friend, Daniel Botero keeps pushing me to start my own podcast. Never say never but I have not committed to this as a new money move project yet. It may be something I seriously consider for a 2021 project—we will see.

Being a running tourist is the money move with the most transformational impact for me. Never set out to lose a specific amount of weight but running more and longer distances has allowed me to shed pounds and keep them off. I sleep better and have a ton of energy to tackle my daily activities. Running also provides me with a platform to clear my mind and generate content for the Walk into the Future blog. A lot of blog topic ideas are generated during one of my weekly runs—I should take a voice recorder with me but luckily, I am able to remember most of the ideas that pop into my head while out running. Running also provides me a mechanism to remain competitive as I compete with myself to beat a previous race or training time. I also compete with my tree branches as we share personal best race times. I am chasing one of you (Kume) right now to improve my 10k time—getting closer! 😊

My speaking platform is the final money move for me to highlight. I find this to be an effective way for me to reach new tree branches. Always looking for additional speaking opportunities (pre COVID-19) to share my knowledge with others. I have been able to adjust speaking topics into blog articles and vice versa. The spoken and written word remains a powerful combination and will continue to leverage them moving forward. Plan to get back into the lab and generate new speaking topics because I anticipate being back on the speaking circuit once the COVID-19 outlook gets better. May look for ways to leverage the virtual platforms like Zoom to engage people with technology. Got a lot of new ideas to try out just need to remain patient and then unleash on the world.

So, as you can see, money moves can be anything you want them to be. You do not have to receive a financial windfall to get fulfillment and make a difference. Think Biggie says it well! (see below).

“Don’t chase the paper, chase the dream”.

(Biggie Smalls)

What money moves are you making right now?

Pivot into the Future

Pivot butterfly

(Image by GLady from Pixabay)

“If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be”.

(Maya Angelou)

The Walk into the Future blog and my parallel journey began on May 21, 2018.

Did not know how much my mindset and writing style had changed over the past two years until I started looking back at the archive articles. Happy to see improvement in my article design, verbiage, visual appearance, and storytelling abilities. Never want to think I am in the same place when I started especially with Walk into the Future as the blog title. Still got more things to learn to ensure my content grabs a reader’s attention and attracts new readers to the blog. Will leverage new techniques, visual presentations, guest bloggers and concepts to stay fresh in the blog world.

Five examples I highlighted for a Walk into the Future were:

Take that vacation you have been putting off
Decide to create your own blog to document your walk into the future
Make time for family and friends (again)
Discover new talents you may have or wanted to explore
Live life the way you want to

Did not keep a running tab of how well I was doing in these areas but happy to report I have repeatedly checked off each item listed above, multiple times. My initial vision for my Walk into the Future was basic but I have been able to grow through personal development and gravitating to things I enjoy.

Sounds simple enough but the concept of generating content for the blog has been a life course on: continuous learning, networking, research, leadership development, mentoring, storytelling, public speaking, traveling, training, running, marketing, cold calling, selling, patience, blogging, blog design, Word Press, podcasts and the art of pivoting.

I identified everyone should be prepared to pivot as needed in a previous post about overcoming fears. There are times a fundamental change in approach is needed to get what you want (quoting myself here).

Throwback article:

https://walkintothefuture.blog/2019/10/17/dont-fear-the-unknown-life-moves-forward/

2020 Pivot

The Walk into the Future blog has been a fantastic incubator for my time, thoughts, and actions.

I was presented with multiple opportunities to join forces with others based on the growth mindset I have gained from Walking into the Future. I have been extremely selective on who I work with and what projects I decide to add to my portfolio. No more Big Gulps for me!

Happy to report my Walk into the Future has relocated to Fort Pierce, Florida. I will create new tree branches as the Director of Career and Transfer Services at Indian River State College. I was able to leverage my past work experiences AND my Walk into the Future topics, adventures, and growth during the interview process. The ability to relay real-world examples on how I interact with others, my mission to make a positive impact and desire to be a People Builder were leveraged to show impact I will have at Indian River State College.

This pivot creates a larger audience for Inspiration Man and allows me to keep my Walk into the Future moving forward. Excited for the new adventures, location, beaches, tree branches, thoughts, actions, energy, and blog articles.

The Walk into the Future journey continues, just from a new location. I am sure I will write most of my future articles from the beach with an ice-cold drink close by. 😊

The Walk into the Future production process has generated a roadmap for two new projects I am working on in 2020. The first project will be to develop several Walk into the Future leadership articles into a concise eBook titled, The Voice of a Leader.

The second project will be to develop an on-line Authentic Leadership course to help learners understand the leadership model and the variables needed to become an authentic leader (self-awareness, internalized moral perspective, relational transparency, and balanced processing).

These projects are exciting to me since I will get to learn how to create an eBook and build/design an on-line course people would be interested in. More to come as I get smart on both platforms. The eBook will come first since I have got the content at my fingertips, just need to organize, and reformat—sounds easy enough, huh?

Interesting fact (to me)

I view life as a daily adventure and continue to seek ways to make a difference in this world.

One area I explored was teaching psychology courses since I do have a PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. Seemed simple enough but a funny thing happened on my Walk into the Future. I applied to the local community college to teach General Psychology as an adjunct professor. Repeat, an adjunct professor! Never heard back from them even after reaching out to people in the department via LinkedIn and direct email. Ironically, if they had leveraged my talents in the classroom, I may have missed this amazing pivot opportunity. Things happen for a reason—Irie!

Tree branches will still receive text messages, emails, and LinkedIn articles from me. You have all been a major part of my journey and look forward to expanding our reach—just from another location. Walking, smiling and inspiring into the future!

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity”.

(Amelia Earhart)

irsc project wall

(Summer 2020 project wall)

Stop limiting your progress—remove personal roadblocks

Road Block image

(Image by Manfred Antranias Zimmer from Pixabay)

“Love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort and keep on learning”.

(Carol Dweck)

What is holding you back from accomplishing what you want out of life?

This question and subsequent answers can be applied to your personal and professional life. I’m a huge advocate for positive energy helping us meet or exceed our life goals so, begin the process to remove anything that would limit your progress today!

Dictionary.com defines progress as forward or onward movement toward a destination.

Let your daily thoughts, actions and words lead you toward the progress your desire in all areas of your life.

I’m a firm believer we can talk ourselves into or out of anything in life. I’ve started answering the question how’s your day? with the response fantastic. I use this response to trigger the destination I’m seeking and ensure my thoughts match the destination. I know this is a simple explanation but how many people have you heard say the following:

I’m not a morning person…
I want to work out but don’t have time…
Working on this project is going to suck…

They have just created a negative thought pattern for the highlighted activities. Not saying simply putting a positive spin would make everything work better BUT it can’t hurt. Why create these roadblocks for yourself? Positive self-talk can be used here to get better outcomes. It takes time to adjust your mindset but should be worth the attempt.

“There is no elevator to success. You must take the stairs”.

(Unknown)

Next, put the necessary actions in place to match your positive thoughts. Identify the things needed to reverse the identified roadblocks. Using the same thoughts listed above can help highlight how actions can help with your thoughts:

I’m not a morning person…
- (Action: establish an earlier and consistent bedtime)
I want to work out but don’t have time…
- (Action: start small, walk during lunch or after dinner; work out at home)
Working on this project is going to suck…
- (Action: research the project, look for ways to influence positive outcomes)

Finally, put the appropriate words in place to ensure your thoughts and actions move you towards the progress you seek. I leverage reggae and specifically Bob Marley songs to get me in an Irie state of mind prior to speaking engagements. This may seem like a small factor, but I’ve found sustained success when I do this. Playing reggae also enhances the mood and mindset of my audience.

I routinely write the following words in my notes prior to speaking: eye contact, speak clearly, move the crowd and have fun.

These words are consistent with the outcomes I want from every presentation. I mentioned in an earlier post I still get nervous prior to speaking even with my experience level. Writing these words prior to an engagement give me the focus needed to ensure a successful presentation. My words in this example influence my thoughts and lead to positive actions. Simple, huh?

This is not an overnight process! It takes time and self-awareness to fully understand how your thoughts, words and actions impact your daily interactions.

What roadblocks have you created that limit your progress? What thoughts, actions and words can you leverage to remove these roadblocks? Thanks!

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t—you’re right”.

(Henry Ford)

Open Road

(Image by Rohan S from Pixabay)

Mentoring and people building daily

People Builder March 2020

(Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)

“We’re here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark”.

(Whoopi Goldberg)

Had an interesting conversation with a good friend today about why I consider myself a People Builder. My explanation comes down to this is something I was destined for—my purpose if you will. There it is—I’m a People Builder!

Got invited to speak with 3 Student Success classes at Tallahassee Community College in December 2019. The professor and I worked together at FSU years ago and reached out to see if I could energize her students. I never turn down speaking roles so decided to work on some new material to help students find the why in their studies.

The invite came the week prior to finals so most students were ready for the semester to end–then I enter the arena. Always love a challenge and the end of a semester provides plenty of them. Didn’t let this deter me as I prepared for my full day working on the TCC campus—I’m built for this! 😊

The main message I wanted the students to take away is they control their destiny.

Education and life are active endeavors and the more they participate, take charge and act the more empowered they will feel in all aspects of life. Wanted to ensure the students understood empowerment by having them create a life and educational why statement while I was with them. Some never heard of this concept but were quick to embrace it since the professor made this an extra credit project prior to finals—it takes all types of motivation. 😊

Had several students share their why statements with me during the class sessions—came away impressed with what they generated during our time together. Also introduced the concept of SMART goals (Simple, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) to the students to help them with future educational and life pursuits. Leveraged SMART goals to help the students understand how written goals would impact their why statements.

The professor conducted a survey to get the students to identify what they took away from my visit. See a sample below.

Sample student survey results:

What was your favorite part of the Leadership Presentation? My favorite part of the presentation was what Dr. Williams proved to us. He proved that all of us are leaders of our own lives. He made me believe that I am far more capable of doing great things than I give myself credit.
What did you take away from the perception vs. reality part of the presentation? The perception of a person is how they carry themselves such as how they walk, talk, and dress. For example, Dr. Williams walked in confident, dressed in professional attire, and he was very well spoken. Yet he is a very introverted person.
In your own words, what was Dr. Williams’s why statement? Dr. Williams’ why statement was simply that he wants to leave a positive impact on every person that he meets.
What is your why for your education (including this class)? My why for my education is so that I can grow into a mature and responsible adult and to be able to become an officer in the United States Army. My why for this class is to help make a smooth transition into college which has been interesting.
What is your why for life? My why for life is to recognize that I will not live forever but I want to create something positive that will.
How long did it take Dr. Williams to learn his why? It took him 20 years.
In your own words, describe what happens when everyone in an organization agrees on everything? Everyone stops learning, they all stop growing, and eventually all become complacent.
How was the presentation helpful to you? It helped me realize the many things that I can do right now for my future. It was very eye opening and motivating. Thank you for having Dr. Williams come in.
If you were a tree, what kind would you be? Explain why you would be this tree. I would be a pine tree because I may not be the toughest, but I am flexible and dependable.
Share something you learned that you can put into action this week. I made a game plan of how I can get into ROTC at FSU. After class today (December 2nd) I made an appointment with the recruiter at FSU ROTC for tomorrow.

Happy to report most of the students I spoke with left with the same energy and got active making positive things happen. Several reached out to me on LinkedIn to stay connected for mentorship opportunities. Got invited to coffee recently for additional insight on goal setting—progress was made at TCC!

People building closely resembles being a superhero—Inspiration Man strikes again!

How can you become a People Builder? Who in your circle would benefit from a little construction?

“Our chief want in life is somebody who will make us do what we can”.

(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

The long journey home

Moving Forward Feb 2020

(Image by Bluehouse Skis from Pixabay.com)

“A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home”.

(Matthew 13:57)

There’s an area I’ve had trouble making speaking inroads since I’ve been on my Walk into the Future journey—my hometown.

Never thought my hometown would be the toughest place for me to engage, mentor and help others but it has proven to be a tough place to get invites. The passage above is my reminder that I’m not the only one to struggle to get a message to people who know me—better folks have struggled with this same dynamic, so I guess I’m keeping great company! It would have been easy to just give up and focus my energy into more productive environments but that would have been the simple way for me to proceed.

Perseverance requires additional tactics to reach life and professional goals—so I decided to persevere and keep moving forward on this pursuit.

Finally got the invite to speak during the MLK 2020 weekend at the MLK Banquet as the Keynote Speaker! So, I went from seeking an opportunity in my hometown to having the honor of delivering an important message at the premier event of the weekend—no pressure! 😊

My goal when speaking is always to move the crowd. People want to be entertained, laugh a bit and take something tangible away from these events. The theme of the weekend was: Progression not Regression.

Struggled a bit conducting research for the event since it was open to everyone in the community. Different demographics, backgrounds, and denominations so I couldn’t go into the Keynote with a complete understanding of who would attend. This freaked me out for a bit and then I decided to trust my process for building presentations—one slide at a time.

Looked at previous presentations and blog articles to see if I already had something to fit the theme of the weekend. Nothing matched completely but I recently completed a blog article centered around positive energy in daily interactions. Decided to use positive energy as the progression and negative energy as regression during my speech.

Dr. King’s 1963 I Have a Dream speech was future focused and still relevant in 2020. Leveraged this information to continue to build the foundation of my presentation. Didn’t get deep into Dr. King’s speech but wanted to use it to engage the audience since it was an MLK event.

Introduced the concept of self-awareness to help audience members get a more personal appreciation of progression and regression. Didn’t launch a deep dive on self-awareness but wanted the audience to understand how everyone can control progression and/or regression in their lives. Self-awareness helps eliminate roadblocks, generates an Irie (positive) mindset and thoughts to create positive outcomes.

Dr. King’s dream is still alive and believe everyone in attendance was able to discover how they can enhance progression in the community. Really wanted them to walk out of my Keynote and seek ways to make a difference. I left them with three questions to help seal the theme, Progression Not Regression:

What can you do?
Who can you serve?
What’s stopping you?

The audience response was tremendous during my entire time with them. I feed off audience energy and participation—they brought their ‘A’ game and I didn’t want to disappoint since I’ve been trying to get on the hometown stage for years. Extremely happy for the opportunity and proud of the effort to Keynote this amazing event.

Full disclosure had several aunts, cousins, childhood friends, teachers and my mom in the audience. Nothing like your mom watching you work a room! 😊 Things happen for a reason and I enjoyed my time with the group. Feedback has been great so far so hoping I’m going to receive requests to come back and move the crowd again.

Side note: our high school librarian (retired) was in attendance. I made a point to acknowledge her during my Keynote because she allowed me to spend most of my free time in the library with her during my high school years. I was in there so much she let me check out books to other students like I was an employee. This is where I gained a love for books and reading which eventually led to me pursuing a PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology years later. Small things lead to big results! She said all my aggravation was well worth it, now! 😊

How do you ensure positive energy (progression) in your daily interactions? What techniques do you use to combat potential negative energy (regression)?

How will you celebrate Black History month? Thanks!

Thanks to the Hamilton County MLK committee for putting me on!

“Home is where one starts from”.

(T.S. Eliot)

MLK 2020

(MLK 2020 Keynote, Jasper, FL.)

Master the art of public speaking

auditorium benches chairs class — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

“According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy”.

(Jerry Seinfeld)

Public speaking is difficult, public speaking is scary, public speaking is not my strong skill.

I hear these and similar things daily when talking with people about public speaking. I’m sure I had similar thoughts when I started my journey standing in front of people to speak. The good thing about the fear of public speaking is all your fears can be overcome. Trust me, if I can get over the fear of standing in front of people and talking, everyone can.

My first exposure to public speaking came as part of my instructor role when I was in the Air Force. My actual job knowledge (data analyst) was needed to train the next generation of Air Force data analyst. I was forced to come out of my natural introvert shell and learn how to engage a room full of students who depended on me to help them grow professionally. No pressure, huh?

“Best way to conquer stage fright is to know what you’re talking about”.

(Michael H. Mescon)

I learned the more I practice the less nervous I am when I stand in front of groups. Decided to always err on the side of overpreparation as oppose to being underprepared for speaking engagements. I constantly review notes, transitions and potential questions I may receive during every speaking engagement.

I view anticipating questions, lulls and technical difficulties as war games. I find it easier to overcome these things by acknowledging they can pop up at any point. This additional groundwork helps me get comfortable before and during my speaking engagement. I still get nervous but know I can handle the task because of my preparation.

Researching the organization and people you’re speaking to helps you learn more about the audience so a tailored approach can be taken. This helps when incorporating examples and stories into a speech. Knowledge of the organization and audience helps generate talking points that fit so you can connect with them. I also target specific audience members based on my research. A quick LinkedIn search can provide an inside nugget I can use to connect with an audience member and seems to put others at ease because I took the time to learn more about them. This simple rapport building technique can be leveraged to help alleviate anxiety as well.

The ability to read the room is another critical component for public speakers. There will be times when you will need to adjust to match the emotions, reactions and body language of your audience. I go into every speaking engagement with a plan of action but because of practice, anticipation and knowledge of the group, I’m able to adjust on the fly (if needed).

I don’t put a lot of written content on slides to avoid limiting myself without a way to pivot if needed. I started incorporating key words and pictures into my presentations to focus attention back to me—the presenter. This always provides me with a pivot channel since I’m not tied to slide verbiage. The key words and/or pictures are used to guide me through the presentation. Practice provides the foundation to make this process work when standing in front of an audience.

Nonverbal communication can make or break your presentation. I make a point not to carry anything in my hands (pen/paper/etc.) except the audiovisual clicker. I try to put the clicker down until I need it to transition to the next slide. Carrying objects can distract your audience and I’ve seen these things distract the presenter as well.

Eye contact with audience members helps convey confidence and credibility as a subject matter expert. Speaking rate, pitch and effective use of pauses can help keep the audience members engaged and wanting to hear more from the speaker. I learned the benefits of audience engagement during my speaking roles in the Air Force and continue to add more tools to my speaking toolkit daily. Don’t be afraid to move around when speaking—this really conveys confidence but should be done with purpose. Too much moving looks like you’re trying to get away from them. 😊

These are a few things I’ve used to help eliminate speaking anxiety. Please note, I still get nervous, but I use my nerves to help fuel my public speaking. The one thing I ensure happens when speaking is to have fun. Might as well enjoy myself while I’m standing in front of a group—having fun seems to counteract anxiety and I’m able to press forward. Try it the next time you must speak in public!

- FYI: Don’t forget the impact Walk up Music can have on public speaking:

https://walkintothefuture.blog/2018/11/22/walk-up-music

What techniques do you use to overcome speaking anxiety? How do you prepare for big speaking roles in your work environment?

Thanks for walking with me!

“Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel”.

(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

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