Introducing Brian Woolf, author of "The Speaker's Blueprint"

Yesterday I was the keynote speaker for a student campus event at Georgia Tech. 

Click here to watch a portion of my keynote where I went Facebook LIVE.

On the drive back home to Raleigh, I stopped in to have dinner with an extraordinary friend and mentor of mine - Brian Woolf. Brian has written several books on how to write and design great speeches. I just finished his newest released book, "The Speaker's Blueprint" and it's phenomenal. I HIGHLY encourage you to get a copy of this book and Brian's other two as well. Reading Brian's books will teach how to immediately grab your audience, how to persuasively deliver your message, and how to have them remember what you said.

Brian is a Distinguished Toastmaster and finalist on the "Big Stage" at the World Championship of Public Speaking. He has studied thousands of speakers and speeches in Toastmasters, TED, and elsewhere, assessing what works well and what doesn’t, what elements are essential for success and what aren’t.   Brian and I met several years ago during a time in my life when I felt something was missing to take my own speeches to the next higher level. Reading his books have helped me as a professional speaker get to where I am. I am not only grateful for his friendship, but also his absolutely amazing expertise in how to craft great speeches. I've also been coached by Brian over several years while competing in the World Championship of Public Speaking contests myself. I have a clear vision of being on the "Big Stage" competing to be crowned as the World Champion of Public Speaking. However, I know I can't do it alone. Just like the best athletes having coaches, the best speakers need coaches too. It's what makes them better by finding blind spots they cannot see. My vision of being the World Champion is a vision fueled by desire that I cannot even explain. I trust visions. And I'm committed to the work required to make that vision a reality. Do you have the same vision for your own speaking? Is it fueled properly? Are you committed to the work? Most importantly, are you committed to following a proven blueprint or are you going to keep stubbornly trying to figure it out on your own? (I know how being stubborn works, and it doesn't work well. The new Preface in my book, PAID to $PEAK, shares how I finally got out of my own way.) From my experience coaching speakers, most speakers don't want it bad enough. Speaking is a tough business ... although, interestingly, great speakers make it look easy. I encourage you to get all three of Brian's books. I recommend them at the highest level.

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