Wake Up! Move Your Heart From Your Chest, To Your Mouth, and Into the World!

Written by Bill Boulton

“Having tasted,… A life wasted,…I’m never going back again.” - Pearl Jam

sweetie pie
I wasted a few decades of my life. I was sleep walking. In the back of my mind, I was afraid of what “they” might think. It was as if I was on an assembly line where my lower body was installed, then my upper body was bolted in place. Next, my brain was emptied out and filled with what “they thought” and the fear of what “they might think” if I went against what “they wanted me to do”. In the words of the Saints and poets of many different cultures and creeds, I needed to “wake up”. To the possible horror of a Saint or two, I “woke up” at a Doors Of The 21st Century concert. When my blog launches, I will tell you the full story, and no… I was not on any drugs, legal or illegal. :)

When I woke up from my nightmare, I realized that I knew what I wanted to do with my life. After I wiped the sleep out of my eyes, and drank a cup of strong tea, I began learning everything I could about the communication arts. After giving many speeches for my Toastmasters group, several community groups, and training with motivational speaker, Kevin Bracy, a protege of Les Brown, I’ve learned to share from my heart, regardless of what “they might think”. Here’s a few things I’ve learned that will help you move your heart from your chest, to your mouth, and out into the world.

“If you are serious about being a great communicator, you should join Toastmasters.” - Kevin Bracy

My two sentence paraphrase of, Malcolm Gladwell’s, excellent book, Outliers, is this – “Practicing whatever your passion is helps you get close to perfect, and 10,000 hours of practicing your passion makes you damn near perfect!” Toastmasters is the best place to do the practice that will make you a great communicator. In Toastmasters, your speeches are judged on presentation, not on point of view. This “no judgement of opinions” rule helped me learn to say what I believed no matter what “they might think”.

“A man only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people.” - Will Rogers

Here’s how I apply the wisdom of Will Rogers to my speaking. I watch many videos on YouTube of speakers whom I would like to emulate. Here are a few of the smarter speakers I “hang out with”. Martin Luther King Jr., Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Steve Jobs, and President Barack Obama. So, who inpires you? Mother Teresa? President Ronald Reagan? Paul Hawken? Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher? Bill Gates? Someone else? It doesn’t matter who it is as long as the speaker is positive, and you are inspired by them!

“If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first four sharpening the ax.” - Abraham Lincoln

All of us have spent our “four hours sharpening our axes” on something close to our hearts. Ask yourself this question-” What is the speech that I have spent all my life preparing for?” Below this post, I have included links to three speeches that I believe are great examples of life preparation message speeches.

If I can be of service to you, please let me know. I am always open to a great conversation about the communication arts! Was April 4-5th 1968 one of the greatest 24 hours of public speaking in the last century? I think it was. :)

1968 – Martin Luther King’s Prophetic Last Speech
Robert F. Kennedy On The Death Of MLK
Robert F. Kennedy On The Mindless Menace Of Violence

Bill Boulton is the “Chief Shopkeeper” of Rock, Read, And Roam!. Right now, R3 is a micro-retailer that does 100% of its business online. Bill’s goal is to grow Rock, Read, And Roam! into a thriving social business enterprise/sustainable business. Some of R3’s plans for growth include: 1. Developing original clothing 2. Creating original books, and 3. Finally… opening our website! :)
When it comes to growing the business, the reality is “Bill has no idea what the business will be when it grows up,” and he thinks that is much of the fun of starting the business.
Bill’s strongest passions are public speaking and writing and when he is not working on his online business, you will find him reading books like The Elements Of Style by Strunk and White, or You’ve Got To Be Believed To Be Heard by Bert Decker. Bill also spends as much time as he can with his wife, Emily, and his dog, Kodiak.
Beginning, Monday, February 23rd, you can continue today’s conversation with Bill at blog.rockreadandroam.com. Before Monday, February 23rd, Bill can be contacted on Twitter or by email at blog@rockreadandroam.com.