4 Things I learned from Starr Hall

Last Wednesday, I had the pleasure and opportunity to attend a free seminar sponsored by Entrepreneur Magazine, Sprint, and Deluxe [for Business]. The key note speaker was a beautiful woman, in spirit and in face, by the name of Starr Hall.

Starr Hall is an international speaker, author of Get Connected, a contributor to Entrepreneur Magazine, an entrepreneur, as well as a slew of other titles. What I enjoyed about her most as our keynote speaker is her ability to keep the audience engaged and to broadcast a lot of knowledge in a way that is interesting. Even though we were at the seminar for about two hours, it just didn't seem like enough time. I wanted to learn more, know more, acquire more. Not only did she teach me about social media (I'll get to that later), but she inadvertently taught us how to be better speakers. This post isn't about what I learned at the Social Media Crash Course because it's too easy, plus I'll post it tomorrow. This post is about what Starr inadvertently taught me about being a better speaker.

I've been told that I too am a great speaker, articulate, eloquent, and intelligent (tooting my own horn...beep beep), but as a life long learner I always want to be better. Being a great speaker is cool in conversation or nice with strangers, but eventually I want to be the type of speaker that teaches and inspires.

What I inadvertently learned from Starr Hall as a speaker is...

• jokes go a long way when breaking the ice. The first thing Starr did once we were seated and attentive was make a series of jokes. It got us laughing and comfortable with her and what she had to offer. And of course, laughter is the best medicine...so why wouldn't we want a healthy dose or be the ones to provide it?
• be engaging. When I say engaging, I'm not necessarily talking about the content, I mean engaging like interacting. Starr was definitely guilty of interacting with us regularly. Although she was supposed to stay on stage and basically "preach," at any opportunity she would be in the crowd talking directly to us.
• be organized but fun. As we watched Starr go through the powerpoint, we were also given paper copies of it. She was very organized in her style but she kept it fun with interesting facts and examples.
• be yourself. When you meet Starr, you know that her personality is genuine. How she speaks to you in a conference is pretty much how she speaks to you in person. When you are speaking to people, whether for conversation, inspiration, education, or whatever...BE YOURSELF!

Free information is priceless. Certainly I went to the seminar to learn about branding my business through social media. Absolutely I went to network with other entrepreneurs and Starr Hall. You best believe I went because it was free, but the information I received inadvertently will likely stick with me more than everything I was supposed to be learning.

Check out Starr Hall and all her accolades and definitely stay up to date for Entrepreneur Magazine's next FREE conference.

The Unemployed Entrepreneur

PS Check out my website: www.shawntelasemota.com!!!