Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to On Purpose with Paul Peters. Today we're uncovering the passions, principles and divine guidance that leads to a meaningful life. You're watching now media, television.
People at every organization who know the answer, have the experience and see the path forward. But when the moment comes to speak, present, challenge an idea or lead a room, something gets lost between what they know and what are others actually hearing. On this show we talk a lot about purpose and one of the questions I keep coming back to is this. What good is clarity about what matters to you if you cannot communicate it in a way that matches or reaches other people? Today, I want to explore the connection between expertise, confidence, and the ability to use your voice with intention. My guest today is Patrick o', Meara, a presentation skills trainer, leadership development coach, keynote speaker, author and Guinness World record holder for the most speeches delivered in 24 hours. He has led hundreds of workshops for Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit organizations, colleges, universities, helping emerging leaders, high potential employees, engineers, technical professionals and student translate expertise into communication that earns attention, builds trust and drives action. His mission is to unlock potential, build confidence, and help people turn what they know into meaningful results. Patrick, when you work with technically strong people who struggle to communicate with, what do you usually discover is, is really holding them back?
[00:01:31] Speaker B: First of all, good to see you, Paul. And
[00:01:33] Speaker A: as far as
[00:01:34] Speaker B: the, as far as the struggles, I would this applies to technical folks, but really I think it applies to everybody. I think one of the big realities I come across is people are better public speakers than they realize. And part of my job is to help them realize that. So whether it's technical or just at large, I always try and start with that. And, and the way I try and test that and just try and challenge the folks kind of in a realistic, but a fun way is I'll kind of throw some obstacles their way. I'll have them doing things immediately, some impromptu speaking, some exercises where they're just thinking out of the top of their head, and also message activities where they're organizing messages in a very short amount of time. And what happens in spite of the fact that I'm challenging them, they rise to the occasion. And having risen the occasion from a technical standpoint as well as just an at large standpoint, people see that while they really can do the skill set if they apply themselves and understand the right techniques or tools.
[00:02:33] Speaker A: Yeah, awesome for the audience. Just let you know, Pat and I have known each other for, oh, gosh, 45, 50 years. So we go way back. We used to be on the gymnastics team and so, in a sense, we've watched each other grow up. So I'm privy to some of the information that Pat is going to share with the audience. And I'd like to start back because, you know, I remember you when we were in high school, we were competing in gymnastics on high bar. And then all the different things that we did. And, you know, look at us now. I believe you recently retired and you've been public speaking for many, many years.
I'd like you to kind of talk to the audience about what led you into becoming a public speaker and why is that so important to you as it relates to what I would call your purpose?
[00:03:23] Speaker B: Well, thanks for the question, Paul. So, yeah, and we obviously, we had a lot of good times, a lot of great memories.
I think for me, that. And it wasn't really an overnight realization, but it was more of a process. But I think the process began, you know, back when I was in junior high, so probably right around the time I was about to meet you.
And, you know, I had participated, I had signed up in this contest, this dramatic speech contest, for whatever reason, and I decided to do this performance where I was going to do the old Abbott and Costello, who's on first? You know, where you have Abbott starts things off and then you get the response. It's just this confusing mishmash of questions going back and forth. But if you follow along, there's a lot of humor in there. Well, for whatever reason, I decided I was gonna perform that and I would do both roles myself, which just in and of itself sounds weird. And it played out exactly that. It played out badly. However, I think the silver lining, after I was done, number one, I.
I take credit in the fact that I was courageous enough to do it, so I do feel good about that. But number two, I got a. A slip of paper from one of the judges, and all it said on the slip of paper was, good voice. Try radio.
So I think that was the. The recognition that I thought I had least a serviceable tool or something that might help me stand out in the world, which was this thing called a good voice, whatever that was, in seventh or eighth grade. But I found myself doing a couple more speeches and getting involved in some plays and dramatic events, which I enjoyed. But again, I think part of that was just from this speaking voice that apparently I had. That was a gift that I was given.
And the thing for me, from that standpoint, really, it was. I think it was just simply a matter of the path of least resistance where I thought, well, if this is something I have going for me maybe in this area, then I'm going to try and work it. I'm going to try utilize it as much as possible. And maybe if it is a strength of mine, that'll help set me apart from the crowd.
[00:05:20] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, it's interesting looking back, you know, 40 plus years later, do you think that judge or the person that gave you that comment was the key? Because I. What was your. What was your college major?
[00:05:35] Speaker B: Speech. Communication.
[00:05:37] Speaker A: Yeah. Do you think that was the little nugget or puzzle piece that says, let me. Let me give this a try?
[00:05:44] Speaker B: I honestly think it was. And, you know, reflecting back on that situation, too, Paul, you know, I think about it from different angles. You know, I think about it and the fact that I'm guessing, at least I'm hoping somebody in my life prior to that moment said, hey, you got a good speaking voice. And whether it happened, I don't know. I don't remember. But what I do remember is the judge's response. So, you know, that really, to me speaks to why did I believe this judge? I don't even know who the judge was. I don't even know if the person who wrote it was a judge. I assume they were. But for whatever reason, I think it's, you know, the old, the pupils ready or the teacher arrives when the pupil's ready. And for whatever reason, I may have been ready at that moment and just that the timing of it all was, you know, I got hit with a message that challenged me, but also showed me a path that I thought maybe I'd have some success from. So I do think that was the beginning of me determining a road that somehow involved public speaking.
[00:06:40] Speaker A: Yeah. You make me think about the Steve Jobs quote, and I think you're probably familiar with it, is we don't know the future. Often we know the future by looking in the past and seeing what steps got us up to the present.
You know, and both of us are very close in age. As we reflect back, and especially as I think about the young man I interviewed. Yes. Earlier. Who's 26. And so, you know, we are what I would call at the tail end. And hopefully we've learned most of the lessons we need to learn. What advice would you give to your younger self or somebody else who is kind of not sure, and maybe they're feeling insecure about what they're going to do in their life and what, what advice would you give them as. As you look back on your life and if you were able to coach yourself and say that was good. I'm glad you followed that guy's lead.
[00:07:30] Speaker B: Yeah. I think the biggest thing, Paul, I would share is that you're, you're better than you think and you're bigger than you think. And you know, if we were to tie this from, into a spirituality standpoint, I think of a reference that Oprah made that, you know, God dreams, God sized dreams for our lives. So the dreams that God has for our lives really, you know, are a lot bigger than, you know, people tend to have as humans. Now I certainly am speaking from experience on that, you know, most of the goals and again, speaking from experience that people have, it's gonna, you know, hey, just let me get a little bit more, let me get a little further down the road. Just if I can get a little further down the road with this or that, I'll be happy. That's all I'm looking for. Just a little bit, little bit of a bigger piece of pie and maybe get that bigger piece of pie. Maybe you don't. But then you know that of course, of course the goal line shifts and you start wanting, wanting more and more and more. Next thing you know, you're wishing your life away. Been down that road.
[00:08:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:24] Speaker B: So I, I think when it comes to the, the recognition of, of the importance of public speaking just in that journey. Yeah, I think you want to really live it day by day, you know, and what you'll find when you start living your life in the present, you know, then you'll start to be, be more willing, I think, to take risks. Because the risks really in those situations just are broken down into small steps. You know, the overall risk, for example, going for the Guinness World record, there was 10 million pieces of that process. But I think the old saying to a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, made it that much easier. So from a communication standpoint I think is you're all, you're having clear communication with yourself to where my next step is in front of me. That's what I'll focus on. Once I accomplish that next step, I'll move on to the next one. Then it becomes that much more manageable.
[00:09:17] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm looking forward to in the next segment going into the story of the Guinness because I was part of that team. Very exciting when you are part of somebody's dream and the success and all that came from that. So I want to ask you, because when you made the decision or that that coach who judged you gave you that and makes me wonder is how often do we miss opportunities to encourage somebody because something in you said and it turned if only the smallest seed of belief that then led you to making the decision to get into, you know, speech communication at the Southern Illinois, which is where I was born, by the way. And so let's talk about, we got about another minute and a half. Let's talk about what then decision in going to school there and then what that led you to do after school.
[00:10:14] Speaker B: Well, I think that the main thread I wanted to comment on, Paul, within that question is just the control part and, you know, stoicism. We both looked at stoicism and we study that from a philosophical standpoint because there's so much wisdom there. And one of the things that the main driver of stoicism is focusing on things that you can control.
So I think from a public speaking standpoint, when I start to focus on sharing what I want to share what's on my heart, or sharing it in a way that I think will be helpful or maybe persuasive, as long as I've shared that in a way that I think is right and to the best of my ability, I really can't control what other people are going to think or how they're going to react. But what I can't control is the fact that I share something authentically and that resonates with people at a heart level. So I, I would just, I would sum it up by simply saying my first bit of advice to improving your communication skills. You know, and your path is just taking it one step at a time, asking yourself, first of all, I think defining what's in your mind, what's on your heart. Once you've done that, then, you know, figuring out ways to share, there are opportunities to share that, to provide the greater good. And again, accepting the fact you can't control how it's received, I think then you'll start to develop a sense of confidence too, in the fact that you can develop messages that matter.
[00:11:32] Speaker A: Yeah, I think it was you that told me that public speaking is the probably number one fear. I would say falling is another big one. And it's interesting how fear keeps us from, you know, doing the things that, that are going to take us to the next level. Expertise creates potential. Communication determines whether that potential becomes visible, trusted, and useful to others.
What I want to take away from this first segment is that purpose is not only about discovering what you're good at, it's also about developing the courage and capability to bring that gift into the room. If our voice never carries the idea of the insight or the conviction, then a lot of what we could contribute stays hidden. After the break, I want to go deeper into the fear behind that silence and what it really takes to build confidence when the stakes feel high.
We'll be right back with more stories and insights to help you discover your calling and Live with purpose. This is On Purpose with Paul Peters on NOW Media Television.
I'm Paul Peters and you're watching On Purpose with Paul Peters on NOW Media Television. Let's continue the journey towards your best life.
Stay connected to this show and every NOW Media TV favorite live or on demand anytime you like it. Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or or iOS and unlock non stop bilingual programming in English and Spanish on the move. Catch the podcast version at www.nowmedia.tv. from business and leadership to lifestyle, culture, finance, law and beyond, NOW Media TV is streaming around the clock. Ready whenever you are. I'm back with Patrick o', Meara, presentation skills trainer, leadership development coach, keynote speaker, author and Guinness World Record holder for the most speeches delivered in 24 hours.
Patrick works with the emerging leaders and technical professionals to help them communicate with greater competence, clarity and impact.
Patrick, I want to talk about because you worked as a trainer for I believe, State Farm, you've done a lot of things, you've worked in close small groups, you've done speaking in larger groups.
Talk about the one thing that keeps people from getting on stage and communicating their message.
[00:13:46] Speaker B: So one of the things I do anytime I my primary service, I guess you could say, or my foundational service is doing two day public speaking development workshops. Day one is spent on skill development and day two is spent on application and feedback and coaching.
So that said, one of the things that I will always do and I try and practice what I preach is I'll send out pre class surveys. And they're very simple surveys, four or five questions and I go through my contact person to send it out to my workshop attendees, which usually are somewhere between eight and 12 people.
So one of the key questions on that survey is what are the top three things that you're most interested in learning in a public speaking development class? And I mean public speaking is such a broad subject. I want to narrow this down. It could be anything under the sun. So I'll get that feedback. I'll ask them what they don't want and quite frankly I'll ask them what would I have to do. But I'm going to think this has been the best class they've ever had in their Lifetime.
And I'll get some crazy responses, a lot of very heartfelt responses, and some of them are funny. So from that standpoint, all of which is to say the number one vote getter, in terms of what are you most interested in learning in a public speaking class is help me manage anxiety.
And I'll see that in that question, and I'll also see that throughout the survey and other forms. So because of that, that really is one of the most important skills that I think, and I'm not even sure if I'd call it a skill, but it's one of the most important areas we need to take a look at. That's always going to be number one. The number one area we'll take a look at in our class.
[00:15:17] Speaker A: Yeah, it's very interesting. I myself have the opportunity, public speaker, and when you talk about managing the anxiety, and I kind of take it back, managing the thoughts, managing the fear, why is it that public speaking is, if not the number one fear, why is it that this, that people struggle with that?
[00:15:40] Speaker B: I think there's a couple key reasons, and, you know, I certainly am a victim of all them because I get just as nervous as anybody, ironically, before I do a presentation. So I'm practicing to the choir, preaching to the choir, and then I practice what I preach.
So that said, what I really try and focus on is I try and, number one, I don't fight the feelings. I try and let them be, you know, and the more I learn about just physiological elements, somatic methodologies to help you improve your peace of mind and be more successful and comfortable, the more I focus on some of the physiological elements, the nervous system, number one, I'll focus on not fighting the feelings, allowing them to be there.
I think the analogy I would use, and I've been told we fight those discomfortable feelings. It's almost like taking a beach ball, trying to submerge that beach ball underwater. And the farther we push it, the more it's going to fight back. And then eventually, when we can't push anymore, we let it go. It's going to pop up and explode on the surface as opposed to letting it be there. So the first action step is just allowing that to be sitting with those uncomfortable feelings. And the second action step would be to, you can, in some respects, reframe the experience, reframe those feelings, which is true, which is to say these butterflies in my stomach, this queasiness, this anxiety, my shaking hands, I'm ready to go, I'm ready to game on. I'm Ready to participate. And that heightened set of alertness is also desirable. It's advantageous to have extra motivation and these positive feelings or this energy going through your body. And as a result of that you can go ahead and you tend to perform at a higher level. So trusting in that is easier said than done.
But allowing yourself to go through some of those things. And then the last thing I'd suggest we just the breathing. You know what happens is we tend to before we do the presentation, we're breathing shallow which tells our brain alert, alert which you know, the fight, flight or freeze syndrome occurs, which you know means are the front, the thingy part of our brain is going to start to shut, shut down. Which is never a good thing when you're trying to speak to a group.
Was there something else, Paul?
[00:18:00] Speaker A: No, I want to address a little bit with that because one of the things that I recognize and. Do you have like a routine before you get on stage? Yeah, I think about Tony Robbins jumps up and down, he does the rebound thing and he does this weird thing. He does his ritual.
Do you have a ritual before you get on stage?
[00:18:18] Speaker B: You know, that's always an evolution. One of the things that I would pre stage ritual, several things, one of which is going to be preparation. You know, the more prepared I am. You know there's a speech coach that has, I, I've heard share that you want to get the speech, you want to go through the speech until the speech goes through you. So and, and for I'm at that position when it comes to training these were these workshops. So that said that in of itself is going to be the biggest way to, to manage fear or uncomfortableness. So that's part of any, I think should be part of any routine. But beyond that, you know, I'm going to do some, some, some strategic things. You know, as people arrive at my class, you know, prior to I'm just going to have a conversation with them, you know, I'll just be, I'll just be pat and we'll just chit chat. I'm always going to see it like you're coming into my house as a guest. I'm going to make you feel comfortable. And just that connection not only makes them feel comfortable and I think more appreciated, but it lowers my anxiety and you know, then it becomes more of a natural experience when I start things off. And then you know, the other thing too is going to be just willingness to take risks. And I, I think part of that, that discomfortable feeling is, you know, I'm Ready to take some risks, and I'm ready to grow, because that's where the growth is going to be.
[00:19:33] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. I think about built within us, especially as a. As a baby learning to walk.
Babies typically don't care what other people think about them. They just get up and they fall and they. They. Until they succeed.
And it's something built within us at some point as we grow, we start to have a sense of awareness of how other people feel about us. And I know from things that you and I have talked about is like, when you're on the stage, you feel like literally all eyes are on you and every little thing, like if your tie is crooked or you've got a booger in your nose, you think everyone's focused on you.
But really share as a speaker, what is the reality of that and how. Because I know you set the stage for the people you're training to have a level of comfort. Obviously, what they're speaking on. You want to make sure that they know exactly what they're talking about and then talk about the importance of what is the reality as a speaker when you're facing an audience. Because often we get in our head, we overthink, we think they're judging us, and then we begin to get into that fear mode. And.
And then how would you recommend somebody who is having that moment of, okay, freeze, run, whatever the. Whatever the term is, that they can stop in the moment. And I know that we've talked about the importance of delay and not being so quick to talk so fast. Kind of talk about what it feels like on the stage to get that sense of, I'm here for a purpose, and I've got a message to share that will help them overcome, not get rid of the fear because the fear is natural, but to give them a sense of confidence so that they can feel like, hey, I'm here to help you. Can you kind of talk about what you have done and what you would recommend for people who have the opportunity to be on the stage or to speak?
[00:21:29] Speaker B: Yeah, sure thing.
So there's a variety of responses, and as you're talking, I'm thinking about you. Try this and that. You know, six or seven different things. I'd say the first things that come to mind, you know, one is going to be, is, you know, as I mentioned, kind of with the stoicism, you can control what you can control. You know, once it comes out of your mouth, you can no longer control it. So try and find some comfort in the fact that you do. Is this Something that you believe in. You know, is this a message that that matters to you? Are you sharing the things that you think are important? You know that that would benefit an audience. So I think there has to be some connection that you, the speaker has to the message to begin with. And they have to have a sense of belief, I think, in the message, at least the way they're going to, they plan to deliver what their goals are in terms of delivering that message. Beyond that, I think there are some strategies the speaker certainly can utilize. And you know, one of the ones I think is the easiest, which is in many respects, you know, accomplishes a lot of things all at once, is what I call an attention centered.
Attention centered opening or.
And the idea is that I'm going to start things off with something to get your attention and I'm going to translate, transition that into whatever point I make. So the example I use will simply be oftentimes, you know, I'll have people go ahead and take their foot and take their right foot and go clockwise over the floor in a circle. And they do that. And then I'll have them take their right arm, draw number six in the air while they keep that leg spinning clockwise in a circle. And they'll find they can't do it. Once they involve the arm, the leg is going to go in completely different direction just by reflex. And that'll get people's attention. So my point is that when I'm doing that, they're completely oblivious to me up in front of the group. And I'm getting more comfortable as I'm up there while I'm making some kind of a point. So there's different strategies that I can utilize to help manage that, that natural sense of anxiety. And I think the last part of that is just acknowledging, as you said, Paul, that's going to happen. And just the more comfortable we are with those discomfortable feelings, the more they won't need to. Just like that beach ball won't have to explode as high as they would had they been trying to force down the water. If they're at the top, they may go up, they may go down a little bit, but there's not going to be that big reaction.
[00:23:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
How do you add in humor in situations where something goes a little unexpected?
[00:24:01] Speaker B: That. So I'm actually taking a. Just to try and enhance my own skills. I'm taking this stand up comedy class and it's, you know, stand up Comedy 101. And what you're referring to there is called crowd work from a Comedian standpoint, and the skill is very applicable. And what you want to do, from whether it's comedian or a professional speaker or just a person giving a speech, is you want to acknowledge things that are happening. And I can remember one situation. Thankfully, something came to mind. I'm doing a. A keynote presentation at a hotel somewhere in central Illinois. And it was probably at least 100 people in the room. And this is back probably in the 90s, I would say back when I live in Illinois, the lights go out completely blank.
And then after a few, three or four seconds, the lights come back on and the people are looking at me like, hey, what'd you do? What are you trying to do here? And I just made the. You know, I'm as surprised as anyone else. And I just made the comment, I hope we don't have any smokers in here because it's really hard to get a light.
And, you know, the room erupted. So, you know, that in and of itself is an opportunity. You know, point being, I think you want to acknowledge something that happens now. I'm not saying you want to acknowledge or apologize for your anxiety, but I think you want to just kind of roll the fact that stuff's going to happen. And just by the fact that you commented on it, I think people see that you're in the moment. That's more authentic. And I think your level of credibility goes up because you're able to go beyond a scripted speech.
[00:25:28] Speaker A: Awesome. Yeah. For me, confidence is becoming less about eliminating fear and more about deciding what matters enough to move through it. That distinction matters because if we want to feel perfectly ready, we can spend years protecting ourselves from the very opportunities that might grow us. In the next segment, I want to connect that courage to leadership. Because once we speak, the next question is whether what we say creates clarity, trust. Trust in action. We'll be right back.
[00:25:55] Speaker C: We'll be right back with more stories and insights to help you discover your calling and live with purpose. This is On Purpose with Paul Peters on NOW Media Television.
I'm Paul Peters, and you're watching On Purpose with Paul Peters on NOW Media Television. Let's continue the journey towards your best life.
[00:26:12] Speaker A: His work focuses on turning complex expertise into messages that audience can understand, trust and act on.
So, Patrick, I want to kind of transition a little bit from the importance of helping people through what I call that fear zone, to become a better speaker or to do anything that's going to take you to the next level.
And I know some of the things that you have done and talk about Some decisions you made to really fine tune your speaking to be even better, to face difficulties, challenges that you did not feel you were really comfortable at.
Talk about those things. Two things come in mind and one is you got up on stage and you did stand up comedy, which still blows me away. And then the bigger challenge of getting your name in the Guinness Book of World Records. So which one ever you want to choose to start with, but talk about that because that was really outside your comfort zone.
[00:27:16] Speaker B: Thank you, Paul. Yeah, so I'll talk about this chronologically.
So three plus years ago at this point, I broke the Guinness World record for the most speech in 24 hours. And the thing that I was really proud of with the whole experience, there's so many elements and I grew in so many ways, met so many wonderful people, is the fact that the pursuit of this initially holy in every way was simply to grow my business. As you mentioned, Paul, I do public speaking development training. I help develop emerging leaders, the presentation skills as well as leadership folks in leadership and technical employees and beyond that. But that being said, I've been doing that on the side in addition to my full time job that I just retired from for the last 17 years. So I'm looking for some way to expand my horizons as well.
And the challenge with the Guinness World Record speeches was that every speech had to be unscripted, unique and impromptu. So I couldn't show up using a script to do the same speech over and over again. And we're talking about, you know, 32 speeches had to be minimum of 10 minutes long and I couldn't use notes. So it kind of brought me back to, you know, when I was, I was on the speech team in college. And again, that judge probably directed me, you know, somehow influenced me to join the speech team indirectly at some point. But I did impromptu speaking. So I actually was able to recall a skill set from back then to allow me to do something here. And then I thought to really just kind of make these a little more interesting, add a little flair to it and you know, challenge myself. I decided to use as far as these impromptu topics. I would use fortune cookies. So whenever I got to a venue, I'd crack open the fortune cookie, having no idea what the topic was. And then I'd read it and then create a 10 minute speech out of that. So without a doubt my, my communication skill sets, my thinking on my feet skill sets improve because of this experience.
And you know, it was so exciting for me. I think, you know, analogous to maybe where, you know, hey, you see a really good movie, you want to tell other people about it. You want them to have the same positive experience. And if they go to that movie, they enjoy it, you feel good.
So that really prompted me to expand my perspective in terms of how to help other people to improve their, their public speaking skills, to experience, to enjoy some of the same feelings I've had, some of the same successes I've had because of that.
[00:29:36] Speaker A: Yeah. So let's, let's go a little bit deeper into the event because I was there, folks, I was there trying to gather the crowds.
So you had to do 32 speeches. How many people had to be in attendance?
[00:29:49] Speaker B: Minimum of 10 people. And as you well know, Paul is one of our body of recruiters.
Every venue had to have at least 10 people, had to be 10 different people. So you know, we're talking about 320 plus people had to be coordinated. And what was really challenging was the start of the day. You know, we had a pre registration process. We had 160 people signed up. We didn't have half of what we needed something and this thing's not going to work out at all because we don't even have half of the numbers that we need. So the success really came about. Every single venue, you know, became just, you know, a recruitment challenge. And you know, folks like you and other people on our team were not shy about, you know, going into around these venues, just seeing people out, out and about, you know, trying to convince them to sit in for 10 minutes for the chance to be part of a Guinness World Record. And you guys were successful because of that. I was able to do my thing and everybody won. So, you know, the one thing I wanted to kind of connect the dots there too, which was, you know, this experience was really challenging, but from a, you know, just by default, I came up with a lot of what I'd call it adventures, you know, a lot of great memories where just wild stuff happened. You met wild people and you heard some crazy things.
So that enriched my life. And as a result of that, that reinforced the fact that I should continue to develop my communication skills.
[00:31:12] Speaker A: Yeah, you know, the interesting I want to take away from the audience is one, this was a huge, huge goal.
I mean to break to one and who was the previous or one of the previous record holders?
[00:31:26] Speaker B: Oh yeah, I forgot what I thought was cool. Ralph Nader. So Ralph Nader was a 2000, I want to say 2008. 2008 presidential candidate. And he was kind of known as the big consumer advocate. Well, in his race for president, he actually, at that point, I want to say he did 28 presentations.
I did 33 or 32. But at the same time, you know, he, he met the objectives and as a result that he was the Guinness World Record holder for the most speeches in 24 hours was Ralph Nader back in 2008. And then a guy from India broke the record twice and the record stood for five years before I attempted it.
[00:32:07] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm going to share a little bit, part of my part. So I had to go help to the next event, get the people to show up. So Pat had mentioned, I think they had 160 people signed up. Now this was being done during a 24 hour period. I remember exactly when you started, it was pretty early because I remember going to the gym at like six, six in the morning.
And so you've got to get people who had promised to actually show up and they've got to make sure they meet the criteria that they've not been in one of his other speeches.
So my role is go there, make sure he had his 10 people. Then I would go to the next event location and try to get, make sure those 10 people were there. And if they weren't there, I had to go find them, pull off the street. I remember going to a homeless shelter. It's like coming here, this guy's feet. And they'd come back like, is there food? No, there's no food. Just here, this guy's feet. So it was this hilarious experience. And then at one point, I remember I was doing Google maps because I wasn't really familiar with Birmingham. I got lost.
I'm like, I gotta get to this effect. Because they were timed. How, how long were the, were the speeches?
[00:33:14] Speaker B: So every speech had to be minimum 10 minutes long. But you know, the process of getting into the building, getting situated, you know, going through the rigmarole, you know, you had to really allow, you know, 15, 20 minutes, ish per venue. So really did anywhere from one to three speeches every hour for 17 hours in a row is really kind of what it boiled down.
[00:33:35] Speaker A: Yeah, because I remember one, we went there and there wasn't enough people, then we went to the next one, then we had to come back because we had to pull the people together. So it was a logistical nightmare. And I wanted to talk about it because, you know, the remaining minutes, talk about the personal stories because there was a couple people you met that you had not met before. They really had an impact on what one that they committed to helping you achieve this and that is vital for anyone who has a big goal and bringing people in to help embrace what you're trying to do. So tell a couple stories about people that impacted you during this event.
[00:34:12] Speaker B: Absolutely.
I think that's the key too. So we're talking about communication, delivering speeches.
And, you know, one of my goals early on was to have experiences, was to, you know, come and find myself in some crazy situations, learn some things, make some mistakes, and based upon those experiences would I would have stories. So I've got a variety of stories and here's one of them that really stood out and that. So what is this venue? You know, early. This is probably venue six or seven. You know, I've got a 17 hours of speeches. This is probably like, you know, somewhere. Hour two, three of the morning at a hotel. And this guy named Antoine, he comes up to me. He is the valley supervisor at this hotel. And he came up to me probably within the first 60 seconds of chit chatting as people are coming into the room. He tells me he had a heart attack and was clinically dead for 45 minutes. And this happened about 10 years ago. Again, I'm hearing this within the first 60 seconds of meeting him and I'm just, you know, sucked into the story and he's, you know, sharing that, you know. And then the Lord spoke to him and said, you know, you're not done. I want you to, you know, I want to send you back and I want you to serve others. So he said, as a result of that, I've dedicated my life to doing, to helping people, you know, where I think I can be of assistance. And he was the guy I needed at least 10 people in the room and he brought six of his valets in to help us meet our numbers, which in fact, it did. So the thing that I thought, which really struck my heart, which again kind of grows, adds to the story, was I made a point, Paul, that, you know, I met five different people that fall in these categories. But I made it a point that these five people that really kind of stood out during the day, you know, like Antoine, you know, really touched my heart and had something that really, you know, that really brought something to the table. Just from a humanity standpoint, I vowed if I get this Guinness World Record, I'm going to track all these people down and I'm going to. We're going to get pictures together with us holding our Guinness certificate.
Well, I thankfully did break the record and I tracked down Antoine. One of the five people, went to the hotel, met with him. We got our picture of he and I holding our Guinness certificate in the same ballroom that I did the presentation. And as we're walking out together, he said, you know, there's something else that came from that experience, you know, when I had my heart attack. He said, since that time, I have had the sign of the cross growing on top of my head. He had black hair.
And I said, hold on, let me look. Oh, my gosh, you do. So I actually got a picture of that too. I got him with the cross on top of it, growing on top of his head, which has been doing that for the last 10 years.
So, you know, just stuff like that, you know. And I do, I do share the fact, you know, I.
This was, you know, I partner with Jesus on this. You know, this was something that,
[00:37:00] Speaker A: yeah,
[00:37:00] Speaker B: I was, you know, this wasn't a solo effort and this was divine intervention. You know, there was a, a bunch of moments where I could just feel, you know, God's presence helping me through this and that, you know, kind of reaffirmed that, you know, God was present throughout this. So just, you know, stories like that, you know, come up and I think that's the silver lining is. Yeah, it was. It took a lot of anxiety to go through this whole experience, but the reward is so much greater.
[00:37:28] Speaker A: Yeah, that's amazing. Clear communication is not cosmetic. It affects alignment, trust, execution, decision quality, and whether good ideas become shared action.
My takeaway here is that leadership communication is not about sounding impressive. It is about making it easier for people to understand what matters, why it matters, and what happens next. The kind of clarity that can change a meeting, a team, a career, and sometimes an entire organization. In the final segment, I want to make this personal again because the most powerful use of a voice may not be advancing ourselves, but helping someone else see what they are capable of.
[00:38:05] Speaker C: We'll be right back with more stories and insights to help you discover your calling and live with purpose. This is On Purpose with Paul Peters on NOW Media Television.
I'm Paul Peters and you're watching On Purpose with Paul Peters on NOW
[00:38:18] Speaker A: Media Television.
[00:38:19] Speaker C: Let's
[00:38:19] Speaker A: continue the journey towards your best
[00:38:21] Speaker C: life.
[00:38:23] Speaker A: Download the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and unlock non stop bilingual programming in English and and Spanish on the move. Catch the podcast version at www.nowmedia.tv. from business and leadership to lifestyle, culture, finance, law and beyond, NOW Media TV is streaming around the clock. Ready whenever you are. I'm closing today's conversation with Patrick Amera, whose work centers on helping people build confidence Strengthen communication and translate expertise into meaningful results. His mission is to unlock potential and help people perform at a higher level in the moments that matter.
So we left off, you had just finished, hadn't. Hadn't known yet if you actually broke the record, because I remember the celebration. And you ended up doing how many. How many speeches
[00:39:15] Speaker B: did. 33 speeches. The record was 30. So I needed to get credit for 31 or more.
[00:39:21] Speaker A: Okay, and what was the wait time for you to find out if you actually had.
[00:39:29] Speaker B: Three and a half months.
So basically the challenge with this whole record, and there were numerous challenges, is I had an option when I pursued this initial record. Either A, I could have. Someone from Guinness could attend and observe me attempting my record for, you know, following me around for all 32 speeches and literally certify me on that on the spot, you know, with. With. Thank. Provided I met all the criteria, I could have done that, but that would have cost $10,000.
So option B was to do it myself, where I had a team, thankfully found a team of folks willing to help, such as yourself, Paul, and coordinate this. You know, I work with student interns at one of the local colleges and I work with an audio visual company who was, you know, saw an opportunity to market themselves as well, which was a win, win situation for both of us. So long story short, I had. I did all that stuff myself.
But because of that, that's what really became the growth opportunities. And, you know, that's what really helped me kind of tap into the fact that, oh, my gosh, I am pursuing a world record.
And then once I found out I got it, it really kind of helped me reset my perspective on what going bold really meant.
[00:40:54] Speaker A: Yeah. And then really, I think back on when this all began for you at junior high with a comment that years later would be you speaking on 33 stages and getting confirmed for 32 to be a Guinness World Record holder.
That is amazing that that happened. And one, it was that I was a part about it, you know, my takeaway. One, and I'm extremely proud of you. But two, you brought a community together because I remember the celebration. Everybody was excited because they felt part of.
Of breaking a world record. Even though we didn't know it at that time, we felt part. And we wanted to help you because we felt good, made us feel good. So I love that you brought the community together to help support you. It's just a beautiful picture.
So what
[00:41:45] Speaker B: happened
[00:41:45] Speaker A: after
[00:41:46] Speaker B: that? Something.
Well, yeah, I'm glad you asked that. So I don't know if I'VE shared this with you. But so this past Fourth of July, you know, America's 250th anniversary, you know, so a big deal. So last Fourth of July anniversary of America, 250 years. So we have all these, you know, big events, fireworks, shows, celebrations going on all across the United States. And what I thought was really cool to your point Paul, and I don't think, again, I don't think I share this with you. But for the fourth of July fireworks show, the city of Hoover, which is where I live, which is where at least half of those venues were where I did that Guinness World record. The city of Hoover for their, their Grandiose Celebration for 250 Years of America actually broke against world record. They decided to set against world record. I forgot what the, the criteria was, but there was some, you know, it was something wearing T shirts or Coke cans or I don't know, something philanthropic. But point being is I love the fact that three years after I wrote my Guinness World Record, making Hoover such a big part of that, the city actually decided, hey, we want to do something pretty big, let's break against world record. So I took a lot of pride in that. You know, nothing I don't take, you know, any glory in that. But certainly I love the fact that you know something I think from my experience three years ago sparked an idea in them and it's been kind of the gift that's keep on giving. And I think too, you know, again, one other opportunity to get hoofer on the map.
[00:43:17] Speaker A: What's funny is before you did your breaking of the record, wasn't there another record about corn shucking?
[00:43:27] Speaker B: Yeah, that actually was the prompt for my record.
So you know, I was trying to find something big, you know, something big and you know, kind of back to Oprah's God sized dreams for our lives, you know.
[00:43:40] Speaker A: Yeah,
[00:43:41] Speaker B: I just came across a story that made me think it could work. You know, somebody else in Birmingham has broken broken record for the most corn husks shucked by a four person team in 60 seconds.
And you know, that was, that was helped them grow as a business. You know, it was a great marketing tool that's helped serve them. So I thought if it worked for them, why don't I give it a try for me?
[00:44:03] Speaker A: That is hilarious. So what is Patrick doing now?
[00:44:08] Speaker B: So one of the big things, you know, I think I share with you on break is just, you know, I am in retirement. I have a side hustle professional speaker where I do public speaking, development workshops And I'm looking to grow that business. So, you know, probably my primary area of focus was on two day public speaking development workshops for technical employees to help them be more effective with communicating the ideas that they do have to be to serve the organization and be more productive.
So I'm trying to now grow that experience. And one of the things I also recognize is to do that I need to grow my skill sets. So I am taking, I'm taking a stand up comedy class and I've loved it. I've actually done five open mics at this point, up and down all of them. But really had a good time and really grew from them. So I'm trying to develop that skill set to be a more effective speaker. So I think school's never out.
And then from a speaking standpoint, I'm trying to grow that into more specific opportunities to develop leaders and expand the horizons beyond taking a two day development workshop.
[00:45:14] Speaker A: That's amazing. It's funny, I was watching a club of Seinfeld yesterday, the next Seinfeld, Patrick o'. Meara.
So, you know, I also want to take a few moments because I know that you have written a book, I don't remember what's the title of your first book?
[00:45:31] Speaker B: Developing a talented public speaker in you.
[00:45:35] Speaker A: Gotcha.
And you wrote that. And I love the book. I was probably the first person person to read it when you told me about it.
[00:45:42] Speaker B: You were, you were reader number one.
[00:45:45] Speaker A: Yeah. And. And then I know that you and I have just recently joined forces to, to write another book together. And we just sent that to the editor. We're looking to have that released around the holidays, Christmas time. Of course, we will let you all know. And the
[00:46:01] Speaker B: book, again,
[00:46:03] Speaker A: it's called Purpose Code DNA. And so, you know, one of the things, you know, I know that you, especially if we've talked before, really honing in on your purpose, especially as we get older and we want to make sure that we've lived the life we're called to.
What, what is the takeaway as people are getting this book? What do you want them to know once they get this book about their purpose in the sense of. And how it connects to inside of us? Because I, like you said the title of your first book was, what was it again?
[00:46:38] Speaker B: Developing the talented public speaker in you.
[00:46:41] Speaker A: In you. So part of the sense of a purpose is in you talk about that and the takeaway that the audience, you want the audience to have from that
[00:46:51] Speaker B: right on. Yeah. Thank you for the question. So I think the heartfelt, the core Question for me needed to be answered. What's so significant about finding your purpose? And, you know, I have as Paul, and you've met him, you know, my. My uncle priest, you know, Father Bill, who just passed away. Well, prior to him passing away, you know, I shared with him that I was writing this book, I was co authoring this book with you. You know, purpose, code, blueprint, and, you know, tell them that the focal point of the book is helping people discover the purpose God has set for them for their lives.
And I said, uncle Bill, slash Father Bill, how'd you discover your purpose? And. And he joked and he said, that's easy. He said, all you got to do is follow what many believe to be the greatest of the Ten Commandments, which is, you will love your Lord God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your soul. And which is to be followed by a second commandment, which is that you shall love your neighbor as yourself. And then he's joked and he said, I guess it's going to be a pretty short book.
And then I laughed and I said, well, what if you struggle to do all that? He said, that's what other people are for.
So to sum that up, Paul, I think that other people is the role that we're playing. I think our role is to help people find their purpose. And we've done that with a variety of stories, with action plans, with different resources that we've included in the book. And the stories, I think, are very relatable to help share some of the things that we've done as well as things we've heard about other people have done to help them discover God's purpose in their lives and how that's benefited them.
[00:48:24] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm excited for the book to come out. Obviously, Pat and I will be on stages speaking about it, promoting it, because ultimately, much like Pat used the Guinness World Record to bring a community together, our hope is we can do that likewise with our book. So purpose becomes more powerful when it's expressed in a way that helps other people move, grow, decide, or believe differently. Patrick, before we close, where can people learn more about your work, your presentation skills, programs, coaching, speaking, and resources? And what is the best way to connect with you if they want to strengthen the communication capabilities of their leaders or teams?
[00:49:04] Speaker B: So the two biggest pass or options for me would be, you know, LinkedIn would be number one, you know, and is Patrick Omaro apostrophe capital M A R A? I'm not sure if we can get a link to this to be shown below, but my LinkedIn page would be the best option because there you get, you know, a real good snapshot of what I. I'm doing, what I've done and what I hope to do. And there'll also be contact information there to my website, which would be the second option. It would be www.propresenting. there we go.
Www.propresenting.com. so there's actually the homepage of my website.
So either way, I would love to connect with anyone. I think to sum up, my purpose in life is to help make people bigger, is to help you grow. And the path that I've been blessed with is to help you grow from a presentation skill, standpoint. Thank you.
[00:49:59] Speaker A: Yeah, I love it. What I'm taking from this conversation is that our voice is not separate from our purpose. It is one of the ways purpose becomes visible. We can have expertise, ideas, conviction, and even a clear sense of calling. But impact requires expression. It requires the courage to speak, the discipline to prepare, and the humility to make the message about the people we are trying to serve. Patrick, thank you for joining me. I'm Paul Peters, and this is on purpose. Thank you.
Great job, man.
