Rehearsals and Great Performance

I have been working with my mentors and speaking coaches for about a week now concerning my next Speech Project; Vocal Variety. Vocal variety is the 6th  Speech Project in the Competent Communication Manual of the Toastmasters International.
These team of wonderful people who despite their busy schedules have taken out time to help hone my speaking skills and bring me to an alignment with my gift and  message;  This got to its peak in a 2hours rehearsal two days ago, all in readiness for a 7-minute speech. Their selfless effort and dedication emphasizes to me the invaluable need of a great rehearsal. Rehearsals are necessary for great performances.
A great performance  by a great Opera usually will take minutes but little or nothing is usually known of the days and hours of preparation that produces  a great performance.

Every great performance is achieved by a great team. Just like singing, speaking also shares a lot of similarities with such performances and the best rehearsals are those done in a group or supported by a team of people.

A reflection on this evinces the need for proper preparation and effective team work for the success of any endeavour. While I hope for my best performance so far, I won't stop pushing the frontiers of my improvement.

Keep improving!

Emmanuel AYENI
Life coach, Engineer and Entrepreneur

IT'S IN YOU!

19th century American  Poet,lecturer and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson said  “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

It's in you. The past the present and the future is in you. All that you were, all that you currently are and all you can ever dream of becoming is all within you.
The fading echoes of the past; the thrilling inspirations of this  present time which you now experience and the aspirations and hopes of the future are right within you.

The gifts, talents that you need are already within you. The opportunities  you seek are right within you.
I will draw some wisdom from a story told by Russell H. Conwell in his famous book Acres of Diamond. Hali Afed stayed on a very big farm in Philadelphia, it was a farm with lush fields, fresh green vegetations and a little crystal clear stream flowing in his backyard. Hali Afhed bustling with health and vitality was happy and contented. He was happy because he was contented and he was contented because he was happy. But one day Ali's close friend came and told him about some rocks found in a distant land; it was a rock hard and sparkling, a piece of which could make any man rich for life. so Ali thought so much about this rocks with the fact that he needed to go and get one for himself, that night Ali went to bed a poor and discontented man; he was poor because he was discontented and discontented because he was poor.
Long story short. Ali sold his big farm and travelled far not minding the harsh weather in pursuit of  this shiny precious rocks called diamonds. He spent all. He found nothing.As he lay sick, miserable and expecting nothing but death under the dark skies on a cold night, he heard the travellers discuss what happened at Ali Hafed's farm in Philadelphia,One sunny morning the servant of the new owner brought in some shiny looking rocks they found while the donkeys drank from the stream. And this new owner had put them on his study table until a priest who lived nearby saw them and spotted them for what they were the- rarest diamonds anyone can find,
And this back yard became the biggest diamond mines in the States. This story illustrates the fact that All you have always wanted is within you.
The very substance through which all things are made is in you.
You have probably heard of the 7 wonders of the world but I am sure you might not know until now that you, my dear friend; that you, yes you are  the eight wonder of the world. Because the vast shining  potentials and talents in the world, the books not yet written, the songs uncomposed,the greatest speech yet to be delivered, the world's newest invention the greatest diamond Mines in the world lies right within you. There is greatness within you, and I celebrate your greatness today!

Thank you!

The Toastmaster!

Emmanuel Ayeni

Life coach, Engineer and Entrepreneur
www.emmanuelayeni.com

(This was my Speech project 4, delivered on Thursday 11th June at Merit Toastmaster, Ikeja, Lagos Nigeria. Wacth the video on YouTube IT'S IN YOU: http://youtu.be/TtSogK54Rc8

MY TOASTMASTER JOURNEY

It's  a great day! Another wonderful day and I am indeed grateful to God. Amidst all activities around  the end of the year, I have still not given up on my goals, I still continue to work to change what can be changed at the moment .
One of the main projects on my mind around this time apart from my new book project is my Toastmasters membership. Toastmasters, I will  describe as a personal development club. It's an international organization that helps members develop their speaking and leadership skills. Toastmasters is  in well over 162 countries with the international world headquarters located in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. See more info at www.toastmasters.org
So last  November, after months of being a guest , I eventually formalised my membership by undertaking necessary registration and getting set to begin my journey .
Every toastmaster's journey begins with an icebreaker- an introductory speech and mine starts as I currently look forward to breaking the ice  at Merit Toastmasters Ikeja, later today in the last meeting of the year.

Every journey begins with a step in the right direction. If we keep moving and never stop taking steps- in the right direction we can eventually have an option to go at full speed; and if we do not stop or falter we will surely get there!

Keep moving!

Your billionaire coach!

Emmanuel Ayeni