Theoretically, if I want to create a company based around motivational speaking, logic would dictate that ACTUALLY writing a speech is a prerequisite. (VERY true). While I know that I have a very unique story, sitting down and putting my experience on paper is a lot harder than I expected.
One gentleman advised me to just get EVERYTHING on paper. Start to end – just type type type away. So I began to do that. Along the way, my challenge was that since I was unconscious and my memory was a tad hazy – I had to write as much as I could remember and then sit with my parents and sister to get the information that I didn’t know (or remember).
Although reliving the stroke was not a joyful activity for my family, they were amazing and helped me to fill in many gaps. After that, I finally had everything on paper! Exciting…….however, it was basically just a “word dump.” This needed to be massaged, refined, cut down, and filled with memorable stories and something that would resonate with an audience.
So, I sat down once again with my good friend Google, found motivational speakers, reached out to ask them for advice and spoke with the ones that were willing to chat with me. There was one thing that became very clear. Just telling my story would capture 50% of people. However, if I added learnings and lessons for the audience, I would be able to capture 100% of an audience.
When I learned this, I was better able to structure my original “word dump.” Every day, my speech became more refined and clear. It was all about telling my story in such a way that would clearly, without a doubt leave an impression for the audience and resonate with them.
I then had a workable draft and started sending it to family and friends and after each one sent me their suggestions, I’d rework my draft and send it to the next person. I cannot describe how invaluable this is! It has allowed me to see what was unclear, things that are irrelevant as well as areas that I need to describe more clearly.
I still need to get a few facts straightened out with my neurosurgeon and have other people (those that do not know me) to read my draft so I can create a speech that I know will hit home and help EVERYONE in the audience.
To be continued!