In my career, I've attended loads of presentations, and more than just a handful of these fundraising awareness campaigns. I have never been inspired to rush home and check for lumps, quickly book a mammogram or even throw wads of hard earned cash at the cause. And as a pretty cynical marketing person, I was a little "over" all the pink this and pink that and all the hard luck stories that came with it.
So as my own toughest critic, when I was invited to be the speaker at a Pink morning tea in the financial district, I was a little bit ... terrified. Oh no ... I'm going to be one of them.
My first question was, how am I going to make it interesting enough not just to get my message through but to be at least a little entertaining? With my story, there were no special fundraisers, kids doing heroic things or flying off to exotic countries for trial treatment. My story is pretty simple, I got cancer, went through chemo and radiation, had surgery, then went back to work.
My next concern was, am I ready to talk about my journey without getting all emotional. At this point I'd had 3 years clear of cancer, and sure I've chatted to people about what I've been through, but not as an actual presentation.
It was time to think about what I would be interested in hearing? What would make me sit up and listen? What would grab my attention?
And so evolved my first speech, filled with humor, tears, silliness and pure honesty. I kept it tight but raw and chose to keep my natural way of speaking. Just like I was in a conversation with any one person in the audience. With the mirror setup in my office, I practiced and practiced and practiced until I really couldn't stand the sound of my own voice anymore.
Then it was the day I'd been dreading and looking forward to all mixed up in one big emotion. Sweating so much that I was glad I had waterproof makeup, and a blouse that wouldn't show how nervous I was.
Now this is the point when I should probably explain that as a hobby I like to drag race. And as a part of being the driver of a pretty fast car, I needed to learn how to be calm in a very not calm situation. So when I lost control of my race car at 250km/hr and started heading directly for the concrete wall, I calmly went through the whole process of shutting off fuel and bracing myself for impact like I'd been taught.
Unfortunately, that crash was nothing compared to standing up in front of 50 office workers during their tea break and telling them how I felt when I was told I had breast cancer. I was expecting everyone to just sit, listen, politely applaud and head back to their office. What I didn't expect was to hear my voice catch half way through my story as I saw my hubby's face in my mind. I paused and took a long wavering breath willing the tears to stay back, then looked up from my notes to actually see the audience properly for the first time.
They were crying. Tissue boxes were being passed up and down the rows of quietly sniffling men and women. But in their eyes I could see them willing me to find the strength and courage to continue.
So I grabbed up one of the tissues, removed my glasses and dabbed my eyes. I apologised and explained it was my first time sharing, and it all suddenly felt so real again. I put my glasses back on, took a deep breath and continued. They deserved to know the ending. They'd earned it.
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Thankfully I don't break down in tears at all my speeches which is probably a good idea, since not all my talks are about breast cancer. If you'd like to invite me to your next morning tea, then drop by my page for further details. [ andyk.com.au ]
But if you'd like to know more about my marketing ideas then my business page is probably more suited. [ www.askewvision.com.au ]
Andy Kahle
Speaker - https://www.facebook.com/andykahle
Digital Marketing - https://www.facebook.com/PokenOzEvent
