Public speaking when everything possible goes wrong

Yep,

I recently had this exact experience. 

Am I exaggerating? Perhaps.  You be the judge.

My speaking engagement was on Tuesday. I developed a cough on Sunday.

 I left work early so I could run home, get changed and pick up my presentation materials. When I got home, I realized my daughter had locked me out of the house. (This was after trying every entrance in the pouring rain.) The only person with a key (my wife) was at work over an hour away.  To be on time for the appointment, I had to leave in twenty minutes.

I got in my car and made a decision...despite my soaked clothes, no presentation materials and feeling under the weather, I would drive to the library and do my best with what I had. Rarely do things go according to plan and I wasn't going to let a little something like no presentation materials, wet clothes and a cold keep me from sticking to my commitment.

I drove the hour-long trip to the library managing to get dried off on the way as well as putting myself in a better mood. I arrived early, saw the strangest thing...two horses tethered to a pole in the middle of a row of cars in a crowded parking lot.  By the time parked, got out of my car and made my way to where I saw the horses, they were gone...only a pile of...well, you get the idea, left in their place.  Having fully intended on snapping a photo of this anomaly, I was slightly disheartened but wasn't going to let the loss of a funny photo dampen my spirit.

Speaking Engagement

 I'll be speaking at the Oxford Public Library tonight! 

Details are below.

Teens &Tweens - Book Talk with author Josh (J.R.) Wagner

When: Tue, May 8, 6:30pm – 7:30pm

Where: 48 S. Second St. (map)

Description: Author Josh (J.R.) Wagner will be here to discuss his new book Exiled. All tweens and teens are welcome. No reservations required.

Stop in and say hello! I may have a giveaway or two!

Hope to see you there!

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As always, find interviews, writing samples, videos, contests and more on my re-vamped website.

www.TheNeverChronicles.com

In bookstores 6-5-2012

On my first pre-release speaking engagement

Yesterday I completed my first pre-release speaking engagement with the Downingtown Library Teens group.  Of course I was nervous, who wouldn't be on their first go-around?

When everyone from the group came in, I immediately relaxed. Unlike adults, you can tell quite a bit about a teen simply from their body language.  They don't try to hide who they are behind a prim and proper mannerism like us adults. They are who they are, which I love.

I found it easy to build a rapport with them. (Some would argue because my mind still resides in that age group.)  I believe that may be part of it -all of us long to be able to return to those care-free days.  Part of it is because unlike the drones of adults I come across on a day to day basis, each and every one of them was unique -it was obvious from the second they walked through the door.  I could tell by the way they walked, the way they sat, who they sat next to, where they looked and who they interacted with.  I believe at that age, they strive for individuality as much as people in their 20's and beyond strive for conformity and consistency.

I found it easy to immediately enjoy each of their personalities -to find humor in their jokes and to appreciate their one-of-a-kind methods of interacting with me and others in the group.

I realize this isn't some societal epiphany -I'm sure teachers go through this all the time, but as someone who hasn't interacted with this age group (my oldest just turned 13) often, I found the joy and excitement and energy in it.  There was passion in every one of them -again something usually washed away by the flow of time, and it was empowering.

I spoke for about an hour, discussed my book, writing, publishing, popular titles. We played a game, I gave out some prizes including copies of The Maze Runner, Divergent and the least known but most coveted, Hunted.

Some stuck around to chat after it was over -the excitement was still there. I felt, for the first time that my cause, my passion -to help change the lives of tweens, teens, and young adults through writing and reading is in motion.

It was an exciting and energizing experience.  I can't wait to do it again!

           

Delving into the public speaking world...insanity?

I'll be the first to admit, I have a thing for pushing myself out of my comfort range...way out of my comfort range.  I've done adventure races that last over 48 hours and go non-stop the entire time.  One I'm particularly fond of recollecting was in North Georgia in January. The temperature at the start was below 10.  All of our water was frozen solid at the start line. The lake we were supposed to paddle across was frozen solid.  We raced anyway.  Probably because we're all nuts.  The second night -maybe it was early morning -it was dark regardless, my teammate and I began to hallucinate from sleep deprivation. Now that was an interesting experience!

So how do I segue from adventure racing to public speaking? Comfort zones! I think pushing myself until hallucinations set in probably counts as pushing beyond ones comfort zone.  Similarly, signing up for a public speaking group and, of course speaking in front of that group is, for me anyway, once again jumping into an endeavor with which I am not the least bit comfortable.

Part of it is need based (you know, the whole book publishing thing will require some public speaking comfort) the other is challenge based.  I like seeing how far I can push myself.

So last night, I presented my first speech (called The Ice Breaker) The topic: me.  Easy, right? Who can't talk about themselves for four to six minutes?  Hell, I dated a girl that talked about herself for four to six hours non-stop!

I had a plan.  I had the structure laid out.  Tell something about my history, something about my family and something about my passion.  So far, so good, right? For my history I would share a funny story about my father so the audience would get a feel for my upbringing.  I talked about my family -my daughters, my wife.  I had several visual aids to keep the audience engaged as well as give me helpful notes.  What my evaluator missed (sorry Tony) was, on the back of virtually all of my props were written notes (a trick I learned in college of all places).  The audience is none the wiser and you don't spend your time as the speaker flipping note cards.  Needless to say, the prop notes worked well.

The final piece of my speech was about my passion -writing.  Always looking for a comedic edge, I decided to briefly discuss marketing then over-play it by literally taking off my clothes...well, sort of.

I spoke about how, if I truly wanted to pursue my dream as a writer, I would have to thrust myself into the marketing aspect of publishing.  With that, I un-zipped my sweatshirt revealing this gem...

I wasn't done...not even close. I dug into my cache of props and removed a huge copy of my logo (also plastered with notes) and threw it up on my easel.

By this time I saw the yellow WARNING, you're about to run out of time card go up.  I knew I should have wrapped up but I thought, it's my first speech, I prepared all these props so I might was well use them and take the time penalty.  So out they came.

I talked about my store and how the proceeds go to the Books for Teens charity that gets books in the hands of under-privileged teens.

I was seriously considering having 'models' stroll in at this point wearing shirts from my store but, at the last minute, decided that my daughter's giant bear was much easier to work with, I could fit it in my duffel bag, I didn't have to deal with his agent (my daughter didn't know I 'borrowed' him) and I didn't have to buy anyone dinner.  Everybody wins!










So somewhere between the bear and the baby alive (yes the one that will crap out the special food you feed her) the red sign goes up and I know I'm over time.  I quickly displayed my magnets, bookmarks and stickers, then handed out my cards (a very cost effective marketing tool BTW vistaprint.com), which, of course are marked with my website and release date (this could have waited until after the speech, saving time) and concluded my speech.  I actually said 'thank you', which I'd just finished hearing was a no-no for speakers because it is the audience's privilege to listen to you speak, but I got flustered and rushed when I ran over on time so my conclusion wasn't as crisp as it should have been.

The power of synergized enthusiasm

I recently joined Toastmasters International, which is a speaking and leadership development group.  My intent was to polish my speaking skills as my book publication date draws closer so I'm comfortable speaking in front of groups of people.  Good idea, right?  Trust me, I need all the help I can get.

Anyway, last monday there was a special meeting called a speech-a-thon where the entire meeting is nothing but speeches and evaluations (unlike the regular meetings, which consist of other exercises and interaction opportunities). 


I'd gotten up at 4:15 that morning, did 9 hours at work and was drained by the time I got home.  I was seriously considering bagging the meeting and vegging on the couch with my copy of Maze Runner and my dog.  Something (of course) deep within the recesses of my brain was telling me to go so, I went. 


As soon as the meeting got going, there was a palpable energy in the room.  Each speaker was on their 'A' game and as an observer, you could feel their energy. It got me excited.  I wanted to get up and speak -to share my energy with the group.  I needed an outlet for this energy so I started writing my next (and first official) speech.  My mind was racing -drawing energy and ideas off the other speakers and I wondered if this is what collaborative writing feels like.


One speech that completely blew me away mentioned a Rube Goldberg machine in the same breath as Wile E. Coyote and had me literally fighting myself to keep from laughing hysterically.  I found the Rube Goldberg mention so obscure yet funny in its context that it was nothing less than masterful placement.  


For those unfamiliar with the Rube Goldberg Machine, here is an amazing video.






Other speeches touched on other topics -all of them interesting -all of them informative,  and each feeding to my energy.  By the end of the meeting, I was pumped. I was full of ideas -not only for my future speeches but for book stuff, work stuff, home stuff.  The fires of creativity had been stoked and I was powerless to do anything about it.


Another member mentioned the same feeling during her closing statements. As we packed up, it was clear that everyone in the room was energized.  People were lingering just to talk about their favorite parts, to congratulate the speakers and, I imagine, to burn off some of their creative energy before heading home.


Unfortunately, it takes quite a bit to burn away that much energy in my case so I sat staring at the ceiling in bed (having somehow deluded myself into believing I could fall asleep at my normal time) until finally I got up and worked on some creative projects.  

I don't think a six-pack of Monster could have gotten me that energized.