The SPICE Formula of Sensational Speaking

Be a Reporter Who Speaks

While Sharon and I were struggling with her mental and emotional illness, I was doing constant research about the illness itself and I became obsessed with the brain and how it functions. I read all I could find about the brain, about depression and how it affects the brain from a medical standpoint, and so much more. I began researching this in the summer of 2004, six years after Sharon and I married and when we had reached the lowest point in our lives.

To this day, I continue to study the brain and how it affects the systems in the body, because I’m fascinated with the way the brain’s function relates to every aspect of our lives, including pubic speaking.

When Sharon and I hold seminars and speaking engagements, we include scientific information that we’ve researched over the years. Because I’ve read and studied so much about Sharon’s illness, I was able to apply this information into our lives, and this helped save our marriage. This research has also given me loads of material that I find useful when speaking about our experiences.

All this reading and researching, in my opinion, doesn’t make me an expert on depression or the brain, but it does qualify me as a reporter, as someone who gathers and disseminates that information.

So, with this research in hand, I can add the role of a reporter who speaks to my credentials.

Being an expert is great, and I encourage you to pursue expertise in your area of interest, gaining as much experience as you can. But expertise isn’t the only way to qualify as a speaker. Research qualifies you as well.

So, what’s the lesson? Research your area of interest as deeply as you can, use that information in your presentations and be a reporter who speaks.

We speak from experience, since we’ve lived through it ourselves and we’ve earned the right to speak about it. This experience provides us with an enormous amount of confidence when we speak, being easy for us to recall the turmoil through which we’ve lived. You can do the same with whatever experience you’ve gained in your life!

So, what’s the lesson? Explore your life’s experiences and select significant events that have taught you your most valued lessons. You’ve gained expertise from those lessons. Share the wisdom that you’ve derived from those experiences and become an expert who speaks.