DavidMcCrae

You have the power to help people who you’ve never met, and will never meet you. Throughout history, speakers have solved problems: Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, you know the list. They understood the power of speaking out against a problem, and rallying people to the cause. It is a power that modern speakers such as Brene Brown, Greta Thunberg and Oprah Winfrey have tapped into as well. This is not some magical superpower that only a few are blessed with. We all have a speaking superpower. We all have the ability to change someone’s life with our voice. But as we know from Spiderman, with great power, comes great responsibility. Every superhero struggles with their power, and learning to harness it to serve others. They have to understand and develop their power to be able to use it effectively. The same is true for you. You feel that burning desire to serve others. You know you could use your voice as a power for good, but you don’t yet understand that power. You don’t know how to tap into that energy and inspiration that marked those great speakers of history. You want to be a voice of the future, but can’t find the signpost to tell you where to go. I felt exactly the same as you, and honestly, there’s plenty of times I still do. Every superhero has an origin story that helps them realise their abilities and their duty to serve. For me, that was my dad. My dad installed a love of storytelling in me, he was one of those people who just walk into a bar and strike up a conversation with anyone. He had this amazing ability to capture people through his voice, but he’d be the first to tell you he didn’t use it to his full potential. When I watched my dad die from cancer at age 22, it ignited a drive in me that I wasn’t going to waste the power of my voice. I wanted to use it to inspire people and honour dad’s legacy. When dad died I was fresh out of university and throughout all my time in education no one had taught me how to harness the power of my voice. So I just started publishing videos online, and trying to find out my speaking abilities by myself. I met a couple of great mentors along the way, my Professor Xavier’s who helped guide me and direct my abilities. I joined Toastmasters, which has been like Professor Xs school and provided me a supportive community in which to test my skills and learn more about myself. Over this past decade I’ve been able to tap into my speaking superpowers and have the impact on people’s lives I envisioned after dad died. I’ve coached clients in over 20 countries around the world to help them tap into their speaking superpowers. I’ve won national public speaking competitions with speeches on what I consider to be important topics ranging from racism, to sexual violence, to mental health to LGBT+ rights. I have trained superhero speakers to appear in the big red circle as a TEDx coach, speak on national television and inspire the next generation at Russell Group universities. I’ll tell you the one thing that makes you a superhero speaker. It’s believing that you haven’t helped enough people yet. I’m pleased with what I’ve been able to achieve so far through my speaking and coaching, but I don’t feel I’ve done enough. I still feel like my speaking isn’t having the impact it should, and I’m always looking for new ways to reach people. That’s part of the reason why I made this course. What underlines everything in the content of this course is about finding your unique way of doing things. Sure I’m going to outline frameworks and techniques that can help you tap into your speaking superpowers, but you’ll find your own personal twist on how to use them. As a superhero speaker, your power is unique, and this course is about helping you to stand out. I can teach you how to be a rubbish version of me or any other speaker, but that isn’t how you are going to have the greatest impact on the world. Your greatest impact comes from expressing your superhero powers in your own special way. Are you ready to learn how to do it?