Wednesday, I was given an amazing opportunity from my school along with nine other Link Crew students. We went to go watch three inspirational speakers, with all the proceeds going to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ottawa. There were many other schools represented as well who came out and supported this amazing program.
Because I do Motivational speaking myself, I was especially excited to have the chance to go! I was looking forward to analyzing their structure, style, the way they did things, what I liked and what I didn’t. I learned a lot from each speaker! There were lots of little tricks and stylistic choices that I was able to pick up on. I was in heaven all morning listening to the speakers. 🙂 I would love to speak to groups that big someday.
One of the coolest parts for me was the 3rd speaker, Gilmore Junio, Olympic speed skater. He is the Canadian who gave up his spot to a fellow skater in the 1000m, resulting in a silver medal for Canada. I get more “star struck” by Olympians than celebrities on TV. He was in his Olympic jacket and I was tempted to go ask to try it on :P. I was really looking forward to his talk because I knew I would be able to relate to a lot of the things he was talking about. His talk was unique in the sense that he is newer to public speaking, but he had a presence and Olympic glow to him. He was funny and down to earth which made him intriguing and I appreciated his casualness. You really felt like you were just talking to him at a coffee shop one on one.
It was a great event, and a great day in general with the other amazing students and teachers from my school. 🙂 These are days that I will remember forever from my senior year of High School. It is so special that we get these opportunities and experiences organized through the school. We are very fortunate.