While attending school in Tamworth New South Wales I was selected to travel to Sydney and participate in a statewide leadership seminar.  Having just become an Australia karate champion meant that I had the opportunity of travelling to Sydney to participate in a personal development initiative.  The event was several days long, and excited teenagers arrived at the venue anticipating making new friends and gaining inspiration from the event.

There were many seminars and presenters.  My favourite was the comedy night, in which we listened to an exceptional comedian who caused me to laugh so hard that could barely contain my tears.  Perhaps the biggest impact came from a man who was dressed poorly and acted extremely nervous.  He stuttered and stammered and was doing a hopeless job of keeping the attention of the highly judgemental teenage audience.  After immediately feeling empathy for this man, having dealt with my own nerves, fear and anxiety around speaking, I recall that I was annoyed at my disrespectful peers.  Having dealt stuttering at the age of 14, I felt sorry for this man who was trying to deliver a talk and having what appeared to be distressed.  To make matters worse, more students became restless and began to have private conversations.  Some laughed at him, and others looked around the room in confusion or boredom.  The noise of the students lifted as more of the audience switched off.

Then I saw something remarkable happen.  He changed.  I mean literally he changed.  It was like the transformation from Clark Kent to superman.  He removed his glasses.  He took off a wig.  He shed the jacket he was wearing.  He changed his posture and his voice.  Then he began to speak with power and confidence, offering a distinct and obvious contrast.  It was an incredible transformation and now he had the full attention of the room.  The room became quiet and the disengaged audience also began to change.  The room gave this confident, engaging and intelligent man, who spoke with charisma and confidence great respect.

A very valuable lesson was leaned that day.  To touch move and inspire an audience requires several things.  The speaker must engage the audience, maintain their interest and build rapport.  Thoughts of being a powerful presenter and motivational speaker flooded my young mind, and I have always desired to present and teach.   After that experience I formed the belief that the most important thing that I could do to ensure my success and happiness in life, it was to master the art of communication.