Public Speaking and Business Development

I apologize for the break in blogging. It seems that there are never enough hours in each day. Sometimes I’ll write a whole episode in my head while driving to Hootersville but then never find the time to write it down. So in the spirit of catching up, I hope to have a flurry to read over the course of this (packing) weekend.

There is a section on this blog entitled “Things I suck at” and as a counterpoint, today I have established “When I Kick Ass”. They will be painfully unequal, but there will be the occasional kudos from me to me. This is one of those times.

Last week I was drafted to speak at the “Seriously Geeky Conference” as a favor to the IP section of the firm. There were some internal politics trying to get a section director to pay my expenses but now it’s a different story with everyone trying to take credit. First I had to smarten up on the topic because funding for one industry is not the same as funding for another. But I love to learn and figured that I could talk at grass tops level and get away with it. Some of my medical clients cautioned me not to attend due to the higher amount of Swine Flu in the area which added to the nerves.

I can remember about 7/8 years ago where my ability to speak in public, even in front of a small group of professional friends, was pathetic. I would hum and haw, race and mumble, trip over my words and basically make a fool of myself. I’m not a retiring flower so I have no idea what was the deal. Pathetic. But in the intervening time, I was forced to hone my speaking skills while speaking about my profession across the globe – literally. Somewhere I must have developed skills because I put on quite the show at the conference. I was funny, passionate, educational, entertaining and compelling. Just talk about what you know. The other panelist was from the loan division of the Import Export Bank. The line to speak to me afterwards was at least twice the length. One individual told me that I was the best public speaker that he’d ever heard and he has taught the subject at University level. Another said that they’d never heard someone so funny and honest (I told them NOT to give money to politicians). For the rest of the conference, I had lots of businesses trying to finagle some time with me. One of the conference organizers told me that I was the Prom Queen and I felt like it.

Now I have to struggle with the ethics of bringing on new clients when I am near to resigning. While no one is irreplaceable, I know they are interested in working with me and not a replacement. It feels like bait and switch. I’ll deal with it. But it was nice to feel on top of my game for a couple of days. Yea me!