Olympics

Did you ever spend years preparing for a single goal such as competing in an Olympic competition? In any time in your life did you ever imagine yourself becoming the very best in your specific field? And if you did how long did you stick it out. I have a friend who set out to become the winner of the International Toastmasters competition. He went all the way to the finals and in the final competition he ran over just a few seconds and was disqualified. What did he do? Brood? Sulk? Cry out Foul, Foul? No way. He made a vow to himself that he would set out to win all of those preliminary competitions he had won before and return and win and that is exactly what he did. The only speech competition I ever experienced was when I took The Gabriel Richard Leadership course and in a minor competition with two others I ran a poor third. It was a very humbling experience.

After that I concentrated on competing with myself and I tried to do better and to learn something from every speech I gave. I would tape every talk and no matter how painful it was I forced myself to listen to each speech and evaluate it. Then when I found flaws, and I always managed to find something that could be better, then I would practice that element and work at improving it. I had a goal that continues today and that is to insert at least one new thing in my presentation. I’m still trying to improve and school is never out for the pro. I keep on visiting Youtube.com and discovering something new in a presentation skill or some lecturer who gives me a WOW! experience like a new light going on in my imagination.