Last updated on January 22nd, 2019 at 01:57 pm
Story Crafting Summer Camp 2016
As you may already know, I am a big believer in working on your craft. It amazes me how many people focus on the marketing, and how few people focus on their actual speech. The speech is our product. The speech is our best marketing. Good speakers do more than just wing it. The best speakers treat their speeches like an artist treats his masterpiece. That’s why retreats are so important to me.
As speakers we are busy running in a million different directions. We get caught up in the day-to-day, putting out fires, working our way through the endless administrative tasks. In the back of our mind we keep saying, “I need to work on my speech” and yet we never seem to get the chance. There is always something more pressing. So the speech gets put on the back burner once again.
Plan Your Writing Time and Commit To It
Now that I’ve hosted three Story Crafting Camps (www.StoryCraftingCamp.com) I realize that people don’t work on their speeches until they invest in it, and put it on their calendars. Giving ourselves time away to do nothing BUT work on our speech, is a gift. The new ideas and creativity that sparks when we shut off the rest of the world is amazing. I am so inspired that I am going to take my own advice. I am going to invest the time, energy, and money once a year to work on my craft. To my credit, I work on my craft all year long – more than most people. But even I too can up my game.
So what about you? Have you been meaning to work on that speech for years now?
Perhaps it’s time for you to commit. Give yourself the gift of time, space, quiet, and a creative atmosphere. Put it on your calendar and commit to it. Treat it as important as any other business commitment. Create your own writing retreat, whether it be in your back yard or across the world. Who knows, you just might find your masterpiece.
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Kelly Swanson is an award-winning storyteller, comedian, motivational speaker, Huffington Post Contributor, and cast member of The Fashion Hero television show airing on Amazon Prime. She is also the author of Who Hijacked My Fairy Tale, The Land of If Only, The Story Formula, and The Affirmation Journal for Positive Thinking. She was a featured entertainer for Holland America Cruise Lines, keynote speaker for the International Toastmasters Convention, and has keynoted major conferences and corporate events from coast to coast. She just launched her one-woman show Who Hijacked My Fairy Tale in theaters, and it is being booked all over the country. In July of 2022, she was inducted into the National Speakers Association Speaker Hall of Fame.
Note: Articles by Kelly may contain affiliate links and may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on an affiliate link.
