Skill and confidence are an unconquered army.

- George Herbert

[From Positive Thinking]

A well-known speaker started his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked. "Who would like this $20 bill?"

Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you - but first, let me do this."

He proceeded to crumple the 20 dollar note up. He then asked. "Who still wants it?" Still, the hands were up in the air.

"Well," he replied, "what if I do this?" He dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now, who still wants it?"

Still, the hands went into the air.

"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson.

No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.

We feel as though we are worthless; but no matter what happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.

Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who love you. The worth of our lives comes, not in what we do or who we know, but by ...WHO WE ARE.

You are special - don't ever forget it."

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for, and of you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain.
I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty, even when it’s not pretty every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the moon, “Yes!”

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you, from the inside out, when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Ah ... a contentious statement, that! What do you think? A great way to visualise the structure of your presentation or speech?

Yes. True. It's simplistic, and yes it has been abused.

Audiences may have short attention spans, but they need some subtelty from you.

But then, used subtly, yes it does work.

And that is because we all do have such short attention spans - including our audiences! If we want to make a point that will stay with an audience after they leave the room, we have to repeat and reinforce it throughout the presentation.

We also need to attract the attention, early in the speech, of those who learn best by being told, right from the start, what to expect from any session. If this step is skipped, we lose those people. They fidget and are uncomfortable.

Yes there are a myriad ways to structure a speech. And they can be used within the (subtle) main "Introduction, Body, conclusion." Storytelling, plot twists, meandering, and so many more all have their uses at the right place and time.

And for those creating a speech for the first time, its is a fundamental way to remind them to stay focussed on purpose and message, and to work with an audience to get that purpose achieved and message embedded.

Avoiding the phrase “I don’t have time...”, will soon help you to realize that you do have the time needed for just about anything you choose to accomplish in life.

Bo Bennett

"Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone."
Pablo Picasso

"I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent; curiosity, obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism, have brought me to my ideas." -- Albert Einstein

"Who you really are is enough."
-- Oriah Mountain Dreamer

... In just 10 minutes?

Scientists have just given the official nod to a brand new NLP-based system that enables you to literally "erase" old fears and phobias - in a matter of minutes.

Fear of public speaking, fear of spiders, fear of death, fear of failure - whatever it is - it can be permanently deleted. All when you listen to this special "brain language" CD recording.

It's an amazing discovery - and has the awesome potential to change the world.

Interested?

Learn more ahead of the crowd, online at:

http://budurl.com/tenminute

It works. Life-long fears GONE FOR GOOD - in just minutes.

Check out the site... I guarantee you'll be amazed!

http://budurl.com/tenminute