People often ask me, how did you get to be such a powerful speaker?
Let me share the secret. The reason was not Dale Carnegie. The Dale Carnegie course simply confirmed that the way I have been doing and teaching Public Speaking was correct.
The secret is the POWER OF AFFIRMATION.
And I first experienced that from that one person who had one of the biggest impact in my life: my grade school speech teacher, Mrs. SYLVIA FERNANDEZ.
In 1964 (whew, nearly half a century ago), I was in Second Grade at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Elementary School. Mrs. Fernandez conducted a twice-a-week English Speech class for us. I always looked forward to attending her class. Because she was classy. She had class. She spoke impeccable English.
Many of my classmates were afraid of her. She was strict. Sometimes, she ran out of patience. When she did, she roared. In impeccable, classy English, of course.
But I decided I would not be afraid of her. I decided I would love her and learn everything she had to share. I listened to her. Imitated every phonetic sound that came out of her mind. I mimicked the movement of her lips. I aped the sound of her voice.
She noticed. Then, she AFFIRMED me. In that one moment of clear and powerful AFFIRMATION, she changed me and set me off to a journey in life that I will never forget.
Here was how she AFFIRMED me.
1. She TOLD me I am good. No, she told me I am "great".
She proudly announced to the class that she was impressed by how - at the age of 8 - I could excellently pronounce by "soft TH" (as in THin), my "hard TH", ( as in THe), and my "short A" ( as in the "A" in Apple). I blushed the first time she did. I never blushed again the many times she did that thereafter.
2. She REWARDED me
Mrs. Fernandez used to allow me to leave the class earlier than the rest of my classmates. She would always say, "You are good, you can go home now. Everybody else, stay for further drills".
Wow! Early on, I knew that Excellence pays off. And that someday, you can get paid much for being excellent.
3. She OPENED UP OPPORTUNITIES for me.
Mrs. Fernandez treated me like her Star. Like a Star. Four years after she discovered me, she chose me to recite a poem before the entire Grade School assembly. I was an intermission number. I stood at the stage for just about three minutes. Then, I got my first big audience APPLAUSE. She gave me my FIRST OPPORTUNITY to shine.
THE POWER OF AFFIRMATION: telling others about their tremendous potentials; rewarding them; giving them opportunities to shine.
THE POWER OF AFFIRMATION - the power of One Teacher's Faith in one kid.
In 1987, I was in a conversation with the public affairs director of the Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. She remarked : "You speak very good English!". Twenty three years after Mrs. Fernandez first applied the POWER OF AFFIRMATION, the international audience recognized the ability.
Over the past 25 years, I have been coaching and training people in Public Speaking, Oral Presentation and Managing Media Appearances. My training programs consistently transform people's lives, personalities, careers and businesses.
Those training programs have a common foundation: THE POWER OF AFFIRMATION. I learned that from a direct experience of such Power from a Grade II Speech Teacher.
Thank you, Mrs. Sylvia Fernandez.
