Let’s be honest. Most people would rather get a root canal than give a speech. The possibility of massive rejection in front of a group of people is the stuff nightmares are made of. I should know, because I used to be one of them. My eighth grade teacher asked me to read a paragraph out loud in class one day because I wasn't paying attention. I was in love with the girl sitting next to me, and I was daydreaming about her when he shouted;
"Siebold! Read the next page! Now!"
I Turned Eight Shades Of Red, Gasped, and Said…
"What page are we on?"
You can probably imagine what happened next. He slammed the book down on my desk, and started screaming at me like a madman.
I was embarrassed, terrified, and shaken…and it was about to get worse.
When the teacher finally stopped yelling at me, he pointed to the page he wanted me to read. By that time I was so nervous I couldn't seem to catch my breath. I broke out in a cold sweat, and the words on the page became fuzzy and jumbled… and he just kept screaming as I fumbled and tried to read the page.
I won the 8th grade graduation speechwriting contest and was asked to deliver my speech at the graduation ceremony in front of 500 people. I thought I was going to have a heart attack! The thought of being embarrassed and humiliated again in front of my friends (not to mention my family) made me sick to my stomach. I lost six or seven pounds and suffered through the same nightmare every night for a week. The next Monday at school I decided that I couldn’t take it anymore, so I walked into the principles office and begged him to let me off the hook. After 15 minutes of pleading, he finally agreed. He made an official announcement over the intercom later that day that the contest runner-up would be delivering the graduation speech.
All because of fear. I lived in a state of panic for the rest of that school year and for many years after just trying to avoid any situation that would put me in front of more than 2 or 3 people at a time. It destroyed my confidence, my self-esteem, and my grades.
The reason I decided to share this was because maybe YOU had a similar experience with public speaking, and you're ready to break free. There's a feeling a freedom, pride and power waiting for you on the other side of your fear. Public speaking unleashes the passion inside you, and gives you the freedom to speak up and be recognized for your thoughts and ideas. Once you overcome the fear you’ll never be the same.
I enrolled in speech classes in high school and college, and eventually began to overcome my fear. The only problem was that the teachers and professors were not speakers, they were teachers, so overcoming my fear took years. So when I decided to become a professional speaker, I went straight to the top: The Bill Gove Speech Workshop. That's where I learned that speaking could actually be fun. As a matter of fact, it's now one of my favorite things to do. But only because Bill Gove taught me the secrets and the tricks of the trade.
40 years after that science teacher humiliated me in class, I'm now speaking to audiences around the world to groups as large as 12,000 people…and I'm making more in an hour than that mean old teacher used to make in a month! More importantly, speaking gave me the confidence to communicate with anyone, anytime, anywhere.
Developing this skill does something wonderful to your belief system. Suddenly, the world opens up to you. The event that you once viewed as a threat is now seen as a huge opportunity. People begin connecting with you because you're charismatic on the platform--which comes directly from becoming a competent presenter. These skills will carry over from your professional life to your personal life…and you’ll notice improvements in all areas of your communication.
After I attended in 1996, I had a flood of calls from people asking me this question. I was stunned. Within the first month of taking the workshop, I had more than tripled my investment. And in a few short years, I had earned as much as $117,000 from sales following a 45-minute speech. I wish I could do that well with all of my investments! What's it worth to you to develop supreme confidence and world-class communication skills?
I went from charging $500 per speech to $5,000 per speech within 12 months of graduating from this workshop, and I grossed over a million dollars in my first few years as a professional speaker by simply implementing what I learned during this 3-day workshop. And believe me, that’s chicken feed compared with some of our more famous graduates!
If you're successful, you're eventually going to be asked to speak about what you've done. Think about it: How many successful people hide in a corner when they're with a group?
Attending this workshop is your chance to break into the big leagues and make your mark. And if you're already a major leaguer, it's your chance to learn how to make an even bigger impact and reach more people. (And raise your fees!)
