The big question that always comes up for a speaker like me is “what do you talk about?”
Most professional speakers talk about increasing your productivity, and I do that as well, but in a very different way. In the spirit of Peter Drucker’s timeless question, “Who is your customer and what do they find to be of value?” . . . here goes:
Value #1: Stories, Laughter, and Connection
For all the many things I study and talk about, making people feel tribal connection and making them laugh is, I think, the most important thing I do. Below, from “Real Men Don’t Rehearse,” the night I got the pops bass section drunk by accident:
Value #2: Freedom from Dogma
Most people spend at least twelve, and usually sixteen to eighteen, years in some form of academic training environment. That’s a lot. We live in a culture where “education” is seen as a universal good, but “classroom conditioning” has numerous downsides. It tends to create a culture of uniformity. It cultivates a fear of failure. One of my main purposes as an author and speaker is to undo the effects of this obsolete industrial era training.
Below, taken from my book, “Principles of Applied Stupidity,” I deconstruct the “fear of failure” and show you how you can free yourself from it. Watching this would be a very good use of the next 6 minutes of your life:
Value#3: Encouragement
Most of the time, people don’t need advice or training, they just need the courage to do what needs to be done. Lots of people can think “outside the box.” What is so sorely lacking is the permission to act outside the box (which, again, is generally trained out of you by classroom conditioning). Below, a snippet from an “inspirational” presentation done for a group of high school kids. (The entire talk (15 min) is here.)
Value #4: Your Inner Rich Kid
And finally, the latest and greatest, my new book is about the emotions of money and wealth. This is not a money management book. Instead, again, I parse out the emotional energies that underlie every financial transaction. This is more of a personal development kind of subject, but it also gets into understanding economic “class,” overcoming the trauma of scarcity, and how to be a better negotiator. It addresses how you truly feel about your own “value,” of your work and as a person. (Skip to 4:00 mark.)
One of my fans said to me the other day, “Justin, you state the obvious thing.” Yes, that’s pretty much it. We live in a world filled with blind loyalty to the past, with nonstop spin, sales pitches, and propaganda keeping us off balance. Our trust and naivete is endlessly exploited. The best way to empower yourself is through truth and connection. I am what some folks might call an iconoclast. Others might call me a heretic or a troublemaker. Yeah, that’s me. I was on the faculty of my high school before I graduated, and I was playing in the most famous orchestra in the world when I was 20 years old. There was luck, there was hard work, but I also had the distinct advantage of not knowing the rules, so I was not limited by them.
So please don’t ask me, “What do you talk about?” That’s like asking Mozart, “What do you compose about?” The real question is, what is holding you up? What is the chronic cultural dogma that is preventing you or your organization from moving forward to an obviously better place? You already know how to get there. My job is to point out the many common emotional reasons why you (or your organization) are afraid to do it. There is no point in trying to use logical or mechanical methods to counter emotional energy, that never works. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty and look at the emotional energies that are holding you back. That is where the real power is, and THAT is what I talk about. For more, click on links at right to buy my books.
So now . . . there is that hesitation. “Should I call this guy? Will I get a hard sell?” Fear not. I guarantee that talking to me will be the most entertaining conversation you will have all day. If we connect, I win. And what I wouldn’t give to have you say nice things about me to your extensive network.
781- 330-8143
justinlocke1@gmail.com
Past speaking appearances include:
Partners Health Care
Atrius (Harvard-Vanguard) Healthcare
Fortigent Forum
Enterprise Bank
Florida Orchestra Association
Retail Print Music Dealers Association
Custom House, Boston
CEO Club of Boston
Mass Financial Planners Association
“Book signings” too numerous to mention
Media appearances include:
The “author@google” Series
CBS Radio
Chronicle HD (WCVB-TV)
Greater Boston with Emily Rooney (WGBH)
The Jordan Rich Show, WBZ Radio
Boston Globe
