Today 1700 partners and global leaders of EY from 22 different countries started a three day conference at the massive Marina Bay Sands Convention centre.

They had just three external keynote speakers for this conference.
For a big and important conference like this (EY partners in Asia met like this last time 3 years ago) – there would be very few limits of the kind of speakers they would book. They would basically pick the speakers they want to have.

The went for:
1) Steve Wozniak (flown in from USA) (creator of Apple II computer and global ideas wizard)

2) Linda Yueh (BBC presenter, Adjunct Professor of Economics at London Business School, and Visiting Professor of Economics at Peking University who flown in from the UK)

and

3): Me.

After 2000+ speeches over a 20+ year speaker career I have come to understand that there are no “boring speeches” or “boring groups”.
But there are some “extra fun speeches” for “extra fun groups”.

And – for me – the most fun speeches and the most fun groups are big, global conferences. It is just something with the dynamic of a big, global group that I like so much. How it becomes a group of Humans – not a group of people from a certain nationality/group/culture. 

I also love how everything is bigger, the budgets, the crowds, the stage – the stakes.

Big, global conferences are just the most fun ones to do, I think. The SuperBowl – or the World Cup, if you like – of speeches.
So how did I get this high profile, big conference gig?

By doing a very small talk for 12 of EY’s clients at a small hotel room in Shanghai in June.

The moral here is: Do not look down on the speeches done for small groups.

(Now, to be clear, that job in China was a very fun job too, since it might have been small, but it was the top global HR managers of big Chinese companies.)

But my point is: You never know how a small gig might lead to a big one. Because EY liked what I did for them in China they invited me back for their big conference.

That means I was just one connection away from speaking at their big Asian conference when I did that small speech in China.

I love the concept of “six degrees of separation”, the idea that every human is connected to anyone else by no more than 6 steps. (And with globalisation and the Internet it is probably now more like 5 steps.)

But I do not think it should be called “six degrees of separation” – it should be called “six degrees of connections”, because our connections are not separating us, they are connecting us.

And when it comes to doing a speech for a multinational or international company you are probably no more than 3 connections away from the person who organises the global conference.

1) The person who booked your speech probably knows the national HR director
2) The national HR director probably knows the person who organises the global conference

Now for the first person to recommend to the national HR director that she contact the head of the global conference person and suggest that YOU should be the speaker for their next big conference (out of all the speakers in the world) it is of course not enough that they know who you are.

They also must think that you are the very best choice…

And that means you have to have a kick-ass speech.

But if you do (and I know many speakers who have great, world class speeches, and who want to do big, global conferences but who are not getting those bookings) my advice is this:

Look at the person who books you for a small speech as a “talent scout” who is out looking for great speaking talent that he or she can bring to the big leagues.

You will be surprised how quickly you can go from little league, to mayor league to world series in the world of speaking.

 

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(Istanbul, Turkey)

I am on the final leg of a trip that will take me around the world in 204 hours. 45 000 km in 8,5 days. That is an average traveling speed of 220 km/h …

It included:
9 flights
in
8 days
visiting
9 countries
and
9 airports
on
4 continents.

Sounds stressful and hectic when you look at it like that.

And yet I got to:
– Speak to a global group of accountants (from Nexia) and attend a two day conference to learn about the latest trends in accounting.
– Attend a salsa-inspired party in a natural park and listen to a speech from a man who climbed Mt Everest with a prostatic leg.
– Do a workshop on having a global mindset for global managers of one of the largest banks in the world. (Credit Suisse)
– Do a speech for a big group of bankers at ING HQ in Holland.
– Have a 30 minute interview with a senior manager at ING about the future of banking.
– Write 20 000 words of new texts (for a future project), have a phone conference with Germany, and chat with my suppliers in the Philippines, Ukraine and Pakistan.
– And get booked for new speeches in Indonesia and Germany and get requests to speak in Thailand, Switzerland and Singapore.

But it was not all work. I also got to:
Have Sushi in Tokyo, hamburger in Houston, rum in Rio de Janeiro, tapas in Lisbon, Schnitzel in Zurich, cheese in Amsterdam, (and now) tea in Istanbul  – (and soon a quick transfer in Kuala Lumpur).
Read a book, go to the movies (Bladerunner), visit friends and coach a speaker.
Run on the beach of Copacabana, stroll along the lake in Zurich, and walk next to the canals of Amsterdam for hours.
Learn about Brazilian culture from a personal guide in Rio, and visit the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam

During on of my speeches – when I was speaking about having a global mindset – a man questioned if it was not important to “have roots”.
He seemed to think that it was not possible to have a global mindset and strong connection to your culture (your roots) at the same time.
I explained that those are not opposites.
An healthy tree has strong roots and wide branches (where the branches for me symbolises ones ability to “branch out” and get energy, wisdom and ideas from as wide a world as possible.)

He seemed happy with my reply.

But now after finishing my “sprint around the world” i have come to realise something else.
That by experiencing so many different places, cultures and situations from all around the world in such a short period of time I feel that I have created a deeper connection to the whole world.

This trip changed me.

As I sit here in Istanbul it hits me:

I am rooted in the world!

Not just one corner of it. Not some part of it. No, my roots are global.

That is not possible, you say.

But I say that it is.

It is like a banyan tree where the branches are spreading out downwards into the ground and creating new roots!

My Swedish roots are still there (of course). As are the Philippine roots that my wife added to me when we got married, and the Singaporeans roots that I grew as I moved there 8 years ago, and my Chinese and American roots from having lived there for a couple of years. And the small, but energetic roots that has grown out from my visits to over 70 countries on 6 continents. And so on.

And now all these roots are creating a jungle of intertwined impressions where it feels totally natural for me to say that I am rooted in the world.

Where it doesn’t feel like I left one place to travel the world.
Where it instead feels like I just visited a bunch of different location of one place where I belong.

I am not expecting everyone to understand what I mean.
Heck, I am not even expecting everyone to believe me when I describe it.
(And I know many are going to read it and find something negative with it.)
But I do not care.

Because I think it is beautiful, powerful and magical.
Just like a Banyan tree.

 

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(Picture source. Creative Commons.)

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(Amsterdam, Holland)

Yesterday speech in Zurich. Tomorrow speech in Amsterdam. But today an off day.

So what does a speaker do on a off-day in a foreign land?

I walked through the inspiring downtown of Amsterdam.

Got inspired (and humbled) by visiting the house of Anne Frank.

Sat in an inspiring hotel-bar and wrote a few blogposts for a new blog I am starting.

Went to see the inspiring movie Blade Runner with some friends.

Ate some inspiring, great food.

In other words: Got inspired.

You know the saying “How do you become interesting? Answer: By being interested.”

Well, I guess it is also true that: “How do you become inspiring? By being inspired?”

I truly believe that one of the most important jobs of a speaker is to inspire. And to keep that fire alive that makes it possible to inspire you need to also need to get inspired yourself.

So I had a good, inspiring day today.

But the most inspiring thing I did today was to coach a woman (Angel) to become a speaker.

That was not the plan. The plan was just to meet up and have a “fika” (A Swedish style coffee break and catch up.

Angel is one of the guests who has stayed on my Ideas Island (www.ideasisland.com)

But in an intense two-hour session I did an condensed speaking coaching session that started with her not even knowing that she wanted to be a speaker (she is a natural and will be a great speaker) to hammering out not only her speaking theme, but her go to market strategy, her positioning, her speaking approach and how she should build up her speech (and book.)

It was great and I think we came up with an awesome approach for her.

I just love how the speaking profession is built around the idea of sharing, coaching and helping each other be better. Today I helped in every such a small way to bring another speaker into our profession. (At least I hope I did 😉

Such fun – and inspiring – thing to do on an off day on the road.

Who have you inspired today? And perhaps even more importantly: How did you get inspired today?

 

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