Public Speaking + Joey Hitchins

  This year brings many new changes to my schedule and one of the welcome changes is the amount of public speaking I am logging. Bringing in my first guest speaking appearance at George Brown college last week, I had a great experience talking to students about eco-tourism, sustainability, my life and business abroad.  I will admit, the first one was a little shaky however I was able to find my stride after the first 10 minutes. The hour I did have to work with flew by and what's more is I didn't even get the chance to touch on a pile of subjects I would have loved to share information about. Next time, I will prepare to handle the amount of questions I take better. The Q&A segment which really took place intermittently through out the speech was welcome and kept the audience entertained and actively involved and I really enjoyed that. The other things I loved about public speaking was that feeling you get when your in front of a bunch of people, about to speak about yourself, what a bizarre sensation that doesn't come around too often or often enough I should say. I also enjoyed sharing the knowledge and experience I have amassed over the years, good choices, bad choices and everything in between. Even though I didn't have enough time to get through even half the things I wanted to speak about, I learned that to have a thorough well rounded speech that covers half a lifetime in only an hour takes a little more preparation and focus as the question period can really pivot the thought train and in turn, pivot the speeches direction in a hurry. 

  What a great experience and I welcome the next time I get to guest speak. It reminds me how important the information sharing stream of the world is and that learning from someone that has tasted, touched and experienced whatever it is that is on the table is simply invaluable. Makes me want to go to a conference with some of the other bigger pro athletes in the world like Travis Pastrana, Kelly Slater and Andy Mcdonald. Maybe one day I'll get to see how these guys stand up to a public speaking challenge. Its not easy.

  My next guest speaking appearance will take place on March 25, 2011 at George Brown College in downtown Toronto. I will be talking about eco-tourism here in Canada and abroad. We will also be talking about some of the items and things you can do to allow one to be a little more sustainable in our power hungry environment.  We will also be talking about risk management and customer service. The seminars are usually pretty free flowing with opportunities to ask questions and the engage the topic at hand. There is also a Q&A at the end of the seminar when the crowd can ask just about whatever they would like.  These have been super fun and I am going to spend some more time doing these. 

That's all for now, ciao,

Joey