Are You Who You Tell Others They Should Be?

By Victor Gray

It is my pleasure to report on the 2006 NSA Convention in Orlando, held July 21-25. After attending the previous two conventions, this meeting will forever hold a special place in my heart. I was fortunate to attend a five-hour “Mega Session” with NSA great Nido Qubein, CSP, CPAE. Nido spent the majority of his allotted time present ing his sought-after views on several of the NSA competencies, including Epertise, Eloquence and Enterprise.

Damaging two vertebrae. Desie accepted some risky surgery that had a fifty percent possibility of leaving him paralyzed for life!

Zig Ziglar, CPAE, a leg end in the speaking indus try, led the ecumenical Sunday church service. Zig’s soloist was LaDonna Gatlin, CSP, CPAE. Yep, she’s a sister of the Gatlin Brothers, an admired country-western musical group. I was up lifted as the praises filled the Marriott conference center”.

Desie shared with great emotion, the despair any person would experience given this devastating per sonal situation. Unable to mask his feelings to his physician, Desie was chal- lenged to “live out the words that he the motiva tional speaker had shared with his many audiences nation wide.

they should be. In other words, our actions agree with our words, and we are equal with what we say and do. The real test of congru ence is doing the same thing in private that you speak about in public, despite the fact that no one is looking.

Fortunately, the surgery was successful and Desie would eventually regain

full use of his limbs. However, after three months in the hospital, the

former scholar-athlete at the University of Minne sota found himself unable to move his limbs because his muscles atrophied.

The great news for Desie Williamson is that he has retumed to good health, and his speaking skills have not suffered one bit, thanks to some caring friends and a rigorous exercise regimen.

Despite the obvious con ference “star power”, the experience that has im pacted me the most was a few extemporaneous com ments made by Desi

Williamson, CSP, CPAE before the Black NSA

group

Are You Congruent? So, you might think what’s this got to do with me and my speaking

career? The answer is “congruence”. I use this term when talking about trust in my training pro grams.

Just imagine for a moment if your brain was fully active, but you could not stand, walk or even lift your arins to feed your self! It is likely, your mind would tell you it is time to respond to client needs, send out a proposal or update your web site. All those thoughts would be irrelevant because you have to wait for someone to feed you.

As speakers, we should not have to experience a life changing event to live out what we tell others. Desie’s experience of living out what you talk about will remain with me for some time to come. I hope it makes a dif ference in your speaking and professional career as well.

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines congruence as being in a state of agreement. The Encyclopedia Britannica states that congruence is equality. As speakers, congruence means that we are what we tell others

Desie shared the genuine ness of being one of the top speakers in our indus try one moment, and be ing completely paralyzed the next moment after falling from a ladder and

Wisconsin Professional Speakers Association • e-mail: terry@wisconsinspeakers.com Web: www.wisconsinspeakers.com