Speaking of Speaking...

In the Spring of  2000, I was invited to deliver a keynote address to the membership of the North Carolina Association of Licensed Practical Nurses.  What an experience!

I've made speeches before, of course.  I've argued cases before 2 different United States Circuit Courts of Appeal and the North Carolina Supreme Court.  I have argued cases before juries where lives and millions of dollars were at stake. I have been a candidate for the North Carolina General Assembly.  But this was different.  I was speaking from the heart.

My speech centered on my understanding of my journey from being a lawyer and a broken man to a nurse who is becoming whole person. I see this journey as being one of transformation which fits the model of the mythic journey described by Joseph Campbell.  It ended up being 45 minutes of laughter, tears and insight that I really believe was worthwhile and memorable for the audience.

A past president of the association, who has heard a ton of convention and graduation addresses in her time, has asked me to consider registering with a speaker's bureau and make motivational speaking a second career.  She refused to say it was the best experience of the kind she ever had (I guess she has had bad experiences from telling men something similar in different contexts), but I am flattered that she liked the talk.

I do want to speak more often, so if  you have stumbled across this page and are interested, just  E Mail  me.