RESOURCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING

RESOURCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING 1. The Path of the Genie Dilip Abayasekara, Ph.D 2. Simple Steps To Speaking Success Craig Valentine, MBA 3. Forbes Scrapbook of Thoughts On Business of Life 4. Golden Nuggets of Platform Power Ola Joseph (CD) 5. What To Say When You re Dying On The Platform Lilly Walters 6. Increasing Your Presentation Power Les Brown (CD) 139

Turn Your Accent Into An Asset OTHER TITLES BY OLAYINKA JOSEPH BOOKS 1. Voices of Courage Everyone Has a Story 2. Soaring on the Wings of Courage The Art of Self Encouragement 3. I Would Save Mama First A Celebration of Motherhood 4. Wind of Change In The Air Can t You Feel It? AUDIO BOOK ON CDS Voices of Courage Soaring on the Wings of Courage (2 CD Set) (2 CD Set) AUDIO CDS (LIVE PRESENTATIONS) Be The Change You Want To See Why Crawl When You Can Soar? Soaring on the Wings of Courage Take The Leap of Faith (2 CD Set) (CD) (CD) (CD) DVDS (LIVE PRESENTATIONS) Take The Leap of Faith Why Crawl When You Can Soar? Soaring on the Wings of Courage (DVD) (DVD) (DVD) 138

ORDER FORM For additional copies of this book, please go to www.olayinka.com or send an e-mail/or your request to ola.talks@juno.com or ola@olayinka.com, call 713 283 5141. Indigo Riverbank Banks, TX P. O. Box 721791, Houston, TX 77272-1791 Tel: (713) 283-5141 # Copies Price U.S. Shipping/Handling 1 Paperback $15.95 each $5.50 first book/cd 10 + copies (20% discount) 50 + copies (40% discount) International Orders Shipping/handling: Surface: $20.00 for the first book/cd, $14.00 each additional book Please no COD Orders.. of books x cost per book = total Shipping/handling Texas residents add 8.25% sales tax $ $ $ Grand Total $ ======= Payment: Check#:... Amount $... Credit Card: VISA MC AMEX DISC Card No. Exp. Date.. Name on Card:.Sign...... Billing /Shipping Address: Name: Shipping Address: City: State: Zip: Telephone ( ) Ext: 137

Turn Your Accent Into An Asset RIVERBANK & ASSOCIATES Ola s company, Riverbank & Associates helps individuals and organizations deal with change, communicate more effectively and inspire them to be way above normal. Every presentation includes a unique blend of humor, stories and examples to inspire, motivate and educate the audience. Keynote Speeches Why Crawl When You Can Soar? Wind of Change In The Air Take The Leap of Faith Soaring On The Wings of Courage Workshops Personal & Professional Development Workshops The Golden Nuggets of Platform Power Turn Your Accent Into An Asset Communicate effectively even if English is not your first language Change Management Workshops Mentoring and Mentorship Training Services for Professional and Business Executives Personal and Executive Speech Coaching Individualized Mentoring/Coaching Book writing and publishing services Contact Information Website: www.olayinka.com E-mail: ola@olayinka.com Tel: 713 283 5141 P. O. Box 721791 Houston, TX 77272-1791 USA 136

ABOUT THE AUTHOR is a professional speaker, corporate trainer, and coach. He inspires his audiences in the areas of communications, personal and professional development, Change, and empowerment. Ola was born and raised on a small island village of less than 600 inhabitants in Nigeria. He arrived in the United States a few years ago with less than $100 in his pocket, believing that the most important ingredient to success is courage - having the courage to take action even when it appears the outcome may not be favorable. He attended Lagos City College and Yaba College of Technology, Lagos Nigeria. After college, he worked with Total, Mobil Oil, Texaco, and First City Merchant Bank before moving to the United States where joined the United States Navy. Ola holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Legal Studies and a Master of Arts degree in Human Resources Management. Ola has served on the board of the Houston Chapter of National Speakers Association, and as an Area Governor with Toastmasters International. He is a member of the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT) and the Houston Association Black Journalists (HABJ). His other books include: Voices of Courage-Everyone Has a Story, Soaring on the Wings of Courage-The Art of Self- Encouragement, I Would Save Mama First-A Celebration of Motherhood, and Wind of Change In The Air Can t You Feel It?. 135

Turn Your Accent Into An Asset The fact that you speak English as a second language is not enough of an excuse not to know how to speak in front of an audience, and it is not enough not to be effective when you speak. As I pointed out, if you don t want to spend too much money on acquiring public speaking skills, you can do so by joining your local Toastmasters group. Alternatively, hire a trainer, a mentor or a speech coach to help you. If you are a professional who speaks English as a second language and you do not know how to speak effectively in front of an audience, you are not only selling yourself short, you are throwing money away. Remember that all the great speakers were bad speakers at first. But they learn. You too can learn to turn your accent into a asset. You owe it to yourself. It is your right to express yourself. Never let anyone rob you of the opportunity because of your accent. Your accent is your identity. It is what makes you a unique individual. To maintain your identity and your uniqueness, do not change your accent, instead, turn your accent into an asset and use it to serve your world. 134

EPILOGUE Henry Thoreau said, Average speakers inform and explain. Good speakers demonstrate. Exceptional speakers inspire. Each time you stand up to speak in front of an audience you are not only selling, you are also presenting yourself. Whether or not people do business with you will depend largely on how you present yourself, your ideas and your services/products. Look around you, those who lead are usually people who have ideas and can express themselves in front of an audience. As you have seen in these pages, it doesn t matter whether you speak English as a first or second language, your ability to communicate in front of an audience is a skill to be acquired and used. As has been demonstrated, if you show passion for your subject, make an emotional connection with the people in your audience and you have a purpose to influence, you will have success. Although people fear public speaking, I feel that like any other skill, speaking skills can be acquired. None of us was born a swimmer. No one was born a doctor or a lawyer. People go to school to acquire the skills or learn from someone who has mastered the skills. In the same way, you can learn to speak effectively before audiences. 133

Turn Your Accent Into An Asset Notes 132

Summary According to Thomas Carlyle, The condition of the most passionate enthusiast is to be preferred over the individual who, because of the fear of making a mistake, won t in the end affirm or deny anything. Don t be afraid to make a mistake but let your enthusiasm show through. People love those who show enthusiasm and are interesting. Even though you speak English as a second language or with a funny accent, if you show enthusiasm, people will listen to you. Remember the chef I mentioned in the first chapter? The man had a very deep accent, but he was enthusiastic and had a lot of energy. Go out of your way to be enthusiastic and interesting, and it will not matter whether you speak English as a second or third language; people will admire you and listen to you. 131

Turn Your Accent Into An Asset Doing push ups with the Great Les Brown in Atlanta Posed for a picture with Les after the conference 130

There is an inherent support for the underdog in every situation. People are gentle enough to know that English is not your first language and if you mess up, so what? Everybody does once a while. Even President Bush blows it sometime. People will not get up and leave the hall. Learn to cash in on opportunities to show your enthusiasm. If you show enthusiasm, you will go far. People will like you whether or not you are scheduled to speak. If you are on the program to speak that s even better. Without enthusiasm your speech is doomed. You will put your audience close to sleep. However, with it, you can accomplish miracles with your spoken words, accent or no accent. Remember, no one ever lost credibility by being interesting, and as the popular American Express Credit Card jingle says: Don t leave home without it. 129

128 Turn Your Accent Into An Asset would say, You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm. I knew I was going to be in pain afterwards, but I couldn t pass up the opportunity to share the stage with Les Brown. Later in his speech, Les confessed that he was afraid of me because after looking at me, he noticed that I was smaller, I was younger and I looked leaner and physically fit. Another man who was relatively younger but bigger than Les and I joined us. But the battle seemed to be between Les Brown and me. Les brown beat me because while I was pumping on he was taking his time, and by the time I had done 80 to 90 push ups and was tired, Les was still doing his push-ups gently and outlasted the two of us. I did joke with Les that in my culture we don t make elders look bad. We respect elders and I wasn t going to beat him just to make him look bad. Lesson Learned Jump at every opportunity to show your enthusiasm even if you are going to suffer later as I did for the next three months. Remember, no one has ever lost credibility by being interesting and daring. At the end of that summit, the audience members couldn t recall the names of many of the speakers on the program. However, my name was on their lips. They cheered me for my courage and enthusiasm. Needless to say, I enjoyed it even though that wasn t my objective for going up stage.

After a brief moment he went on to talk about how strong and healthy he was. He proved that by throwing a challenge for anyone in the audience to do push-ups with him. That was exactly what I was looking for something to put me on the stage. Before he could finish the sentence, I was on the stage. The sound of Ola! Ola! Ola! filled the ballroom. I m sure Les was surprised at the speed with which I flew to the stage. After a brief moment, I took off my tie, kicked off my shoes and started jumping around like a boxer getting ready to do battle with an opponent. What Les Brown didn t know was that I hadn t done push-ups in more than seven years since I left the military. Also, he didn t know that I didn t hear the $500 prize money because of the noise. I later learned from a lady who said she would have loved to go to lunch with me if I had won the $500 prize money. Well, there was something I didn t know about Les. I didn t know that he had been doing over 100 push-ups at least three times a day for some time. Honestly, I didn t know I could do 20 push-ups having driven over 900 miles into Atlanta with my friend two days before, plus the fact that I ve had neck and shoulder pains for years. It was a stupid thing to do. I do run and swim and do as much exercise as my body can take. Push-ups have not been part of my exercise program in years. Nonetheless, I was prepared to do anything just to get attention and show my enthusiasm on the stage. As Sidonie Gabrielle 127

126 Turn Your Accent Into An Asset The programs were excellent. The speakers were great. And the audience was very appreciative of the quality of the program. Although I was not scheduled to speak at the conference, somehow I found a way to make my name a household word by the end of the summit through my enthusiasm. On the first day, I approached Tom Antion who was scheduled to speak later that day, and I told him of our encounter in Dallas four years earlier. As expected, twenty minutes into his program, he called me up on stage to give a short testimony. I didn t waste time. I launched my powerful weapon my name. I said Ola, and everyone in the audience instinctively responded with Hola (Spanish word for hello). I simply said, Folks, I m not saying hello to you, I m just telling you my name. That was the beginning of my effort to share the stage with the scheduled speakers. From then on, everyone knew my name and I got a high-five everywhere I went. Still determined to show more enthusiasm, on the third and final day of the summit, the great Les Brown was scheduled to speak after lunch. However, he was handed the microphone just before lunch break to speak and promote his upcoming session. He talked about how blessed he had been and how he had decided to make a difference by helping other upcoming speakers build their speaking business which was one of the reasons I traveled to Atlanta for the program because I knew he would want to have a special discount for the program.

Chapter 13 ENTHUSIASM IS THE KEY Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes shine to the stars. Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eyes, the swing in your gait. The grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of will and energy to execute your ideas. - Henry Ford There is a word that everyone around the world understands even when they don t speak your language and the word is Enthusiasm. Nothing great was ever achieved without it. It is typical for non-english speakers or those who speak English with a foreign accent to want to keep to themselves and shy away from people or the spotlight. That is a self-destructing attitude. Be enthusiastic, be outgoing and be friendly with those you meet whether or not you are presenting. Being enthusiastic has a way of thrusting you into the public arena more than what you know or what you say. Every memorable act in the history of the world is a triumph of enthusiasm. Freedom Builders Experience I recently attended a three-day summit in Atlanta, Georgia. It was a summit organized by the Freedom Builders Inc. 125