Speaking From The Heart With Substance & Structure


I’m currently in the car on my way home from speaking at a National Sports Science Conference at the Symbiosis School of Sports Sciences in Pune. The 4 hour Pune to Mumbai drive is one of my favorites, especially during the monsoons, as the scenery reminds me of a Swiss landscape however much more dynamic.  

I’ve spoken at many conferences all over the world, however, at the current moment, I feel lighter than I ever have after a speaking engagement. The interesting thing is that nothing monumental happened during my session on ‘Fan Engagement,’ just a series of narratives and dialogue comparing the US and India when it comes to developing and engaging supporters.  Yes, it’s true that I always enjoy being on the Symbiosis campus and having the opportunity to speak in front of a group of young, aspiring sports professionals. And, it’s also true that I sincerely respect my fellow panel members which included CEO – Bengaluru FC, Mandar Tamanhe and CEO GroupM ESP, Vinit Karnik with Prasad Kapre as the moderator. However, it wasn’t the conference location, platform to share my views or chemistry with the other panelist that is making me feel this way - then what is it?

The only thing that I can guess is that this time I spoke with the perfect combination of passion, structure and substance.  Typically I’m either all heart or all structure & substance. If I am speaking without a PPT, typically I’m all heart and if I have a PPT then I spend so many hours working on the slides that I end up wanting to ensure that I don’t miss out on a single fact or anecdote which limits my ability to let my words naturally leave my mouth.

In this instance, while I did spend some time researching the topic and even writing down notes, I chose to just speak about what I felt would be most impactful to the people in the room – who happened to all be students between the ages of 20 – 25. The result was answers not focused on communicating the same old challenges of Indian football which I consistently discuss, but solutions on how the students in the room could effectively help create a professional and sustainable footballing ecosystem.  There was no anger, frustration or resignation in my voice nor was there careless optimism or know-it-all-ness, just straight answers focused on contributing to the audience.

This all may not seem like much, especially as public speaking has been a part of my life for the past 17 years.  However I must say that this is the first time (at least in awhile) that I didn’t get caught up in sharing my story or trying to prove how important I am, I just answered the questions and focused on the persons ‘out there’ versus the one person ‘in here.’  By doing that I completed the session feeling empowered and empty (in a positive way), like I said everything I wanted to say exactly how I wanted to say it.

This is definitely something that I would like to take on more as I prepare for future public speaking engagements or just general conversations as I must say that this light, happy feeling is extremely addictive. 



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