26 CHOICES | 2013 SPRING ISSUE
FIND A MENTOR
The last year of hard work
“ has finally paid off,” he said.
“ Your delivery, presence, modulation— all of it work. I’ m proud of you.”
I beamed.
“ Of course,” he continued.” This is only regional theatre and there’ s nothing wrong with that. Many speakers make excellent money doing regional theatre.”
“ What do you mean?” I asked, sensing a set up.
“ Well, Ridge,” he went on.” I don’ t know if you want to, and I don’ t know if you’ re good enough, but if you want to be great, you’ ll have to dig deeper. No one on Broadway does other people’ s stuff. Top speakers write their own materials.”
“ Of course I want to,” I answered, fired up.
“ Then I’ ll help you.” He paused.“ It won’ t be easy and I’ ll be tough. We won’ t stop until it’ s done and we’ ll pull in experts to evaluate you when the time is right.”
“ I’ m ready,” I asserted vigorously.“ Whatever it takes.”
“ Start walking the beach in front of your house. Think and reach. Find your message. We’ ll soon find out if you can handle this or not.”
Ouch. Ugh. He knew exactly which buttons to push, what to say to drive and motivate me. Mentors always do. I hit the sand.
Recently, I attended a seminar hosted by Mark Victor Hansen, the founder of the Chicken Soup empire. He assembled an all-star cast of speaking giants, the elite of the industry.
At an intimate luncheon, Mark shared his story of emerging from bankruptcy 30 years ago, with little more than a dream and a burning desire to become a speaker— oh, and a tape— his first mentor.
He listened to that tape repeatedly, until the principles began to internalize. He sought out and found a mentor in the flesh, spent months perfecting his skill set, speaking anywhere and everywhere at no charge.
Throughout the process, he checked in:“ How is this working? What else do I need to focus on? Am I ready?” His mentor offered advice, pushed him to continue, suggested corrections and improvements. Finally, he got his first paying gig.