Great speaking skills can't save you

Hey Greenbleezies!

(Nope, that’s not it either. We’ll find it)

I wanna start with a story today.

The actual story:

In 2009, I was in my second year at National Theatre School of Canada, in the acting program.

I was miserable and lost.

I knew - deep down - that I didn’t want to be an actor anymore, but I was still denying that to myself.

What I really wanted to do, was travel.

So when a schoolmate named Matt approached me with an opportunity to go to Ghana with him, to teach at his not-for-profit Theatre School for displaced Liberian kids, I got really excited.

It was different, felt like a good thing to be doing, and Africa was super exciting.

So I agreed.

Before going, we needed to raise money, and I was asked to make a speech at a theatre event for wealthy arts patrons.

The speech was prepared by Matt; all I had to do was read it.

“I’m an actor,” I remember thinking. “What’s a speech in front of 35 people?”

At school, we had shows in front of 500+ audience members. I didn’t even have to memorize this speech.

“I’m gonna crush it,” I thought. Turns out:

I bombed it.

Now, I’m sure it was fine, from the audience’s perspective.

I didn’t blank, or stumble (much), or “umm-and-ahh” them to death.

But my hand holding the paper shook uncontrollably, and I remember the bored and disconnected faces of the audiences.

We ended up with ZERO donations that night.

I remember feeling ashamed, and confused:

Why, with all my acting skills and onstage experience, had I fucked that up so badly?

And years later, I know the answer:

Because it wasn’t MY THING.

Those were Matt’s words. Not only that, but they were based on Matt’s experiences, and ideas.

He’d been to Ghana, and met those kids. He’d heard their stories of war and displacement, and watched as they learned to use drama as therapy, and seen their faces light up.

It was his thing.

I was just a “hired” hand (and this was a volunteer gig). I had no personal connection to the kids, or memories of them, or even a basic understanding of their situation.

And that’s why I couldn’t deliver that night.

The reason I’m telling you this, is to encourage you to:

MAKE SURE YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT YOUR THING!

Even if what you do for work is your passion, your calling, your ikigai…

If the words you are using don’t reflect your PURPOSE (your THING):

You will never be a powerful public speaker.

You might be able to be this:

But I doubt you want that for yourself.

So, if you don’t LOVE your job, it will be very hard to give great speeches, pitches and presentations.

And if you DO, make sure the WORDS you write for these presentations reflects the things you love about your work:

• how doing this job makes you feel

• why it suits your personality

• what about your past explains why you do this job

• all the great benefits and experiences it’s given you

• and (maybe most important): why you love the people you help

I believe having a business centred around your ikigai (which I wrote about in my book), often described in the West as:

1. What you love

2. What you’re good at

3. What you can be paid for

4. What the world needs

… is the only way to have a fulfilling career.

At least for me. I’ve found it. Which feels crazy and really good to say.

And its certainly the only way I’d recommend for becoming a powerful public speaker & storyteller.

… and that’s it for this week!

Please, do me a favour:

REPLY to this email, and give me a “public speaking / storytelling / entrepreneurship” topic you’d like me to write about!

And, as always, please FORWARD this email to a friend if you liked it 😁 

For now, Greenblast… OUT 🚀