mission-oriented time management

Stupidity and Speaking

I think  it is stupidity to worry about speaking in public. Not that those who are afraid to speak are stupid, but the very idea itself sounds illogical to me. This does not mean that I was never afraid to speak in public. I have my share of stupidity too!

But the idea that we are all Imago Dei, that is, we are all created in the image of God made me think that to be afraid to speak in front of people is some sort of an insult to the Creator. If we are created in the image of God, then every opportunity to speak must be a celebration of our creation.

I know that some people are afraid to speak because they are afraid to make mistakes. They are afraid to look “stupid” in front of people. They are afraid that they will fall short of the expectations. One time I heard that it is better to shut up and let the people think that you are stupid, than to speak and leave no doubt about it. That seems logical.

But in a second glance, something is wrong with that. It assumes that our idea about our being ill-equip, our being “stupid” is true. It affirms our low self-esteem and keeps us from celebrating the miracle in us, the beauty in us, the Imago Dei in us.

I hope I make sense to you now. If not, it is fine with me. This is a journey, and I know you will soon understand. Or that I will soon learn to express myself to you even more clearly.

For now, I just want you to celebrate your being you. You are beautiful. You are the greatest miracle.

On teaching

I have read some blog entries which tackled education and teaching. Worthy of reading are the following:

1. What Public School Took From Me from Classical Reading and Writing
2. Focusing on the Big Picture from The Elementary Educator
3. The Death of Sustained Silent Reading also from the Elementary Educator.

Six Keys for Successful Evaluations

Ken Blanchard said that feedback is breakfast of champions. I totally agree.

When I decided to develop myself as a motivational speaker and people skills trainor, my first step was to look for organizations that would help me develop my skills. I became a member of International Reading Association, applied membership for Linguistics Society of the Philippines, the Philippine Society for Training and Development, Toastmasters and some others.
Among these organizations, Toastmasters gave me the best help. It helped me hone myself into becoming a persuasive and engaging speaker. The evaluation, or feedback, session inspired me to deliver a speech much better than the last one. In fact the more “kicks” I got from the evaluator, the happier I was. I might not accept everything that they said about my presentations, but at least evaluators provided me concrete examples of what my audience thought about my message they being part also of my audience. Some people will tell us that we are the best. Praises are nice to hear specially in the morning. The points for improvement or “kicks”, at the end of the day, invite us to reflect and do better the next day.

Next time, I will share with you my methods in giving evaluation or feedback. I hope those suggestions will help you provide productive, positive,and purposeful feedback to people around you–your co-employees, spouse, friends, and children.

For now, I intend to share with you the Six Keys for Successful Evaluation. I found these keys helpful especially for managers and leaders.

For those who will not be able to see the slide because of slow internet connections, the six keys are the following:

1. The Goal of Evaluation: Team Growth, Individual Growth, Organizational Growth
2. Criticism without relatioship or context is deflating
3. The Only bad evaluation is a dishonest evaluation
4. A poor review in a loving culture is an opportunity for growth
5. An evaluation tied to job opportunity is a reason to be nervous;an evaluation tied to growth potential is a reason to be excited
6. Team evaluations lessen the potential for personal agendas

Be the champion. Eat your breakfast.

The Greatest Love of All

I just talked about why we need to get rid from our system that we have to be like somebody else. This song is old and overused, but during my seminars, people can still relate and sing along. Deep in our hearts, we know the song speaks the truth… loving yourself is the greatest love of all.

Be you!

Be you because everyone else is already taken!

Superstar Speakers may differ in their styles in presenting their points. They may have different points of view on how to capture your audience. But they agree on one thing: You must be YOU.

Leo Buscaglia, himself a Superstar speaker once said,

The easiest thing to be in the world is you. The most difficult thing to be is what other people want you to be. Don’t let them put you in that position.

I am convinced that we have to go back to the real us, the greatest miracle, the unique individual, the masterpiece of God. Our society, our educational system, our church–all conspired to convince us that it is not okay to be us.

There is something good in emulating others. Others show us what we can do. However, to place others as the zenith of excellence drove many of us to less than excellent, or mediocrity. They limit us to what is possible.

When I was young, my teachers told us that we should be like Rizal, or the other national heroes (but nobody among my teachers showed that they followed what they taught). or Lorenzo Ruiz. Or other dead people in our text books. Or sometimes, we are told to be like our Kuya or Ate, or cousins–all intelligent students.

I hope we create a curriculum that celebrate our uniqueness. Something like:

The Beauty of YOu

The Greatest Miracle in the World 101

You know what, when we learn to love ourselves even more, it is easier to say,

“It is great to be me. “