One of my goals for 2009 is to get better at public speaking. While many say that they have enjoyed my talks, deep inside me, I know I could’ve done much better. Way better. My heart always cringes when I miss an opportunity to deliver a knock-out performance (and not just a good performance). I think there’s a sea of difference between a good performance and a Knock-out performance. My ex-boss calls it “hitting the ball out of the park”. �
Unfortunately, a knock-out performance also requires an extraordinary effort. Quite honestly, I’ve never been the sort of guy to prepare for a talk weeks in advance. It’s always been a slog-over effort. While that’s sufficient for a ‘good performance’, its just is never good enough to hit that sixer.
Over the next few weeks and months, I’ll be putting on an honest effort to correct myself, imbibe the qualities that I’ve admired in other speakers and to do justice to the qualities that what people believe I have. I’ll document my efforts, tricks, pitfalls of my journey and hope to learn from you all.
Thankfully, I’ve had a few opportunities lined up and I *really* hope to walk my talk. Here’s what my schedule looks like.
The event that really captured my attention is this PR 2.0 event that will take place in Tehran, Iran. It’s organized by the Iran PR professionals and pleasantly surprised by how much interest they have in leveraging the Net as a medium. I’ll be keynoting at this event and will be speaking on how Govt organizations can leverage the power of Social Media. The event takes place on July 9th.
The Entrepreneurship Cell at IIT Bombay is organizing the annual The Entrepreneurship Summit on 7th Feb. The event hosts Eureka’08, Asia’s biggest business plan competition. I’ve been invited to be a mentor and look forward to sharing my expertise and helping the folks out.
At the same event, I’ll be the moderator for a panel discussion titled ‘What are the pitfalls to avoid before starting up’. I’ve got a kickarse panelists of successful entrepreneurs and a great audience. Moderating panels is a bit more challenging than speaking at a panel and look forward to it.
It’s the biggest NASSCOM event with the who’s who of CXOs. I’ve been invited as the official podcaster for the event and look forward to interacting with some of the best minds in the industry.
It’s the biggest annual PR event for PRCAI ( Public Relations Consultants Association of India) and I’m a panelist for a session titled, ‘New Media v/s Traditional Media‘. My hands are already itching! Can’t wait.
After a long time, there’s a session from STC Chennai taking place and I’m speaking on how Technical Writers can benefit from Social Media. The event takes place on 21st February.
The talk should’ve happened last week if the TamilNadu govt would not have announced a blanket shut down of all colleges because of the SriLankan crisis. I’m told my talk at the college has been pushed to next week and I’ll be speaking on ‘Making the most of the Downturn’.
The biggest SEO and SEM event in India makes a comeback after a successful show in 2007. The event is happening on Feb 28th & March 1st. I’m co-organizing the event as part of The Knowledge Foundation and will also speak on how Social Media can help enhance your Web footprint resulting in better search results.
The 2nd Facebook Developers Garage in India will take place in Chennai. Again an event I’m helping co-organize as part of The Knowledge Foundation. Hoping to get the development community together and share my experiences on how best to leverage the power of Facebook as a platform. The event takes place on March 15th.
I’m told that the Symbiosis students really liked my talk at the ‘FootPrints’ event in Chennai and have invited me back to their annual event called ‘Cyber Media Conclave’ taking place at their beautiful campus in Pune. Don’t know the exact dates but I’m told its scheduled for mid-year.
The event that really captured my attention is this PR 2.0 event that will take place in Tehran, Iran. It’s organized by the Iran PR professionals and pleasantly surprised by how much interest they have in leveraging the Net as a medium. I’ll be keynoting at this event and will be speaking on how Govt organizations can leverage the power of Social Media. The event takes place on July 9th.
