Best speaker Magazine Issue 2 - December 2017 | страница 24

Q

Can you recall the first time you delivered a motivational speech and the response to it?

I do recall the first time I did a speech. I was in high school, and I was starting to develop my voice. I think naturally that’ s why I was always so shy to begin with because I felt like I was being judged. And I felt everyone was labelling me because of my external appearance and the obvious fact that I didn’ t have arms. So for me, that first speech, I didn’ t really know what to say. I just talked about my life, I talked about the things that I do with my life, and how I am different and everyone was just so inspired. I was only about 16 years and I took away this message that if I can inspire people with sharing my life then I should do more of this.

Have you experienced any

Q challenges as a motivational speaker? Were there moments when you wanted to give up?

I think there were moments when the career was very difficult, not so much the speaking but the business of speaking. The business of speaking was the most challenging part, getting the opportunities. It was a hard journey to

Both my parents have a lot of confidence in me. I think that my dad did not see my condition of not having arms as a handicap in anyway. He says he has never shed a tear about my birth condition. When we would go out in public he would just have a smile on his face. Being able to see his confidence really helps affirmed me in a way that I think I’ m not a victim of anything. And it’ s definitely a perspective, that I’ m not a victim, it’ s just my life. My mum would always say“ you can do anything” and she really lived that example. So my parents played a pivotal role in my growing up and my foundation.

Are there any motivational

Q speakers who inspired you?

There are a couple of people that I look up to. W. Mitchell is a speaker who took me under his wing and helps me with my career, and he has his own phenomenal story of overcoming as well. And Nick Vujicic of course! There is another speaker who helped me along the way to build up my career as a speaker and his name is Brett Eastburn. John Foppe helped me a little bit as well. their lives. Whether they are visual or not, whether you can see them in the physical body or if it’ s a psychological limitation or an emotional limitation. The book is about them, and the tools that they can use in their own lives.

You’ re known for using

Q humorous stories of struggle in your speeches. How do you use humour and what effect does it have on your audience?

Humour is critical from the very start of my speech. The first moment I stand on the stage, the first thing that comes out of my mouth is a humorous line, something to break the ice and let people know that this is not a sad story. This is how I set the stage, with a funny, humorous, lighthearted attitude. It’ s important to set the stage that way because people who may hear of a woman without arms naturally are going to feel sorry for someone like that. Because they compare it to their own lives and they think that if they didn’ t have arms, what would they do? And I definitely don’ t want that attitude to set the stage. I want it to be an attitude of inspiration and that’ s why I start off the speech with a humorous line. And it really does help make people feel comfortable

Challenges must be viewed from a different perspective using creativity, innovation, and ingenuity. It’ s about addressing a challenge in a different way. learn, I mean at the very beginning it was incredibly difficult because I didn’ t have many speeches as I needed to have in order to get a sufficient income. So as I was building my career it was a challenge getting by. I was trying to build my passion as a speaker, so I basically just continued to push through and keep fighting. One thing I decided to do was find some professional speakers and learn from them about what they did, or how they developed their career, and I went to different educational seminars to find out how to become a very good speaker. Not only that, but I practiced as many times as possible. And for me, that was what helped me finally in the long process, to build my career as a speaker who has spoken in 21 countries.

Let’ s talk about your parents.

Q How did they support and inspire you?

24 BEST SPEAKER MAGAZINE 2017

Can you tell us a little bit about

Q your book Disarm Your Limits?

I wrote Disarm Your Limits because as a speaker it is important to have something for people to take away and read as well. It took me about 7 years to finally get that book out there. I was always starting and stopping, and my career as a speaker kept me busy. But I always wanted to get this story out there. So this time when I came to finally write this book, I decided that I would make it a self-help book, in combination with my story. It might only be my biography, my life, my stories, but it would also be a self-help book about what people can take from reading the book. Now, a very important aspect of writing this book was to make sure that I give people tools to apply in their own lives. That’ s why I think the title Disarm Your Limits apply to anyone who reads the book. Everyone has so-called limits in and at ease, and realise that this is who I am, and I’ m going to make the best of it and bring humour to the story because I can and we shouldn’ t take everything so seriously.

How important is critical and

Q innovative thinking in your speeches?

Critical thinking is so important, that I have a phrase‘ think outside the shoe.’ The story that essentially goes along with that phrase is how I learnt to think outside my own shoes as a kid, learning to tie my shoelaces. The message is, challenges must be viewed from a different perspective using creativity, innovation, and ingenuity. It’ s about addressing a challenge in a different way. That is so important for anyone who faced or is facing a challenge That is so important for anyone who faced or is facing a challenge.