The Call to Become a Public Speaker

In March 2008 I borrowed a friend’s “Triple Goddess Tarot” pack of cards (by Isha Lerner) and gave myself a reading. Among the cards that came up, one took the place of the “New Moon or New Beginning” – It was the card No. 23 or Infinite Truth.
Among the meanings of this card, the following ones stuck with me, for a long time… until I decided to write this course:

• “Love and truth are inseparable”.
• “Speaking true words with a beautiful voice”.
• “Thoughtful and well-intended communication (which the Buddhists call “Right Speech”), the vital source of inspired relationships”.
• “Reclaim your right to think exquisite, heart-felt, spirit-infused thoughts. Have the courage of your inspired convictions. Become a “true intellectual”, one who engages the full power of the mind, heart and spirit in the interest of alleviating suffering and making the world a true Garden of Eden”.

Yes, it was a new beginning for me.

In August 2008 I was facing a challenge with one of my speeches and I wanted some guidance, so I took my “Archangel Oracle Cards” by Doreen Virtue, PhD. and the card of Archangel Gabriel (Gabriel means ) jumped out with the meaning of : “Embrace your power in a loving way and use it for the greater good. I will guide your actions so they inspire and motivate others”.

This sounded like music to my ears because it is true that in general we are very scared to embrace our own personal power, even though we know instinctively that it brings us the freedom we long for.

The reason is, I believe, that taking our own power also brings responsibility, integrity, discipline, personal development, inner strength… and many other spiritual powers. And sometimes we just think that we won’t be able to deliver what is requested from us or that we won’t be able to handle a higher level of responsibility.
But the fact is that every time that I have taken a challenge on the public speaking arena, I have moved one step higher up the ladder of my personal leadership and have grasped one little bit more of my own power. And although it has been very hard sometimes, I have always worked under the code of keep fighting my fears and keep on going and eventually the scale of self-doubt will tilt positively towards my higher potential, my brightest future.

The message in the Archangel Gabriel card continued: “I will replace any self-doubt about your qualifications with an increased desire to help, serve and teach”.
At the time, I just made a note about it all but really, after a while, I forgot all about this. It was only one and a half years later, when I decided to use my public speaking diary as a basis to write this course that I came across these notes and suddenly these thoughts made a lot of sense. Everyone is so much wiser in hindsight!

In September 2009 my daughter, then 3 years old, went to school for the first time. This left some spare time in my hands and, wanting to start creating a flow of abundance in my life, but not by looking for a job (I had already worked for corporations before and I found it soul destroying to a very large degree), I decided to do it my way this time.
In order to create my flow, I decided to put out into the universe all the skills that that I had acquired over the years (teaching languages, translating and interpreting, writing books, life and business coaching, Reiki healing, document reviewer, professional organiser, crafts teacher… you name it, I was it!.

At that time, the Animal Strategy card that I was working with was Bison, which meant follow the path already opened for you, the path of least resistance.

Following the path of least resistance meant to me not to analyze or judge any skill that I had as lesser than another and to allow the ever-surprising path of synchronicity and destiny to guide me to my new set of clients, friends, networking pals, and any other soul that would be at a matching frequency with mine that point in my life.

I thought that this would create the perfect possibilities to pull me forward, even if the paths were bizarre, unexpected or out of my usual line of work. I thought that by following this guidance, the universe would direct me towards the life-work that would bring to me my desired abundance, expression of personal power and authority and newly acquired level of leadership, as well as the greatest satisfaction and fulfilment.

“Animal Strategy for Life and Success” is a pack of 80 cards and guide book which I created and that is based on the notion of the Native Americans that says that animals are brothers and sisters and not less important beings in creation that should submit to human control. Each animal has a medicine or gift to give us when they cross our path (either physically or in a dream, or in a TV program or book when it catches our attention…): this is their way to show us where we need to focus at that point in our life so that we can raise above a challenge or a struggle.

Bison is a very strong animal. Should Bison desire to do so, it could very easily open up a path in the snow by using his enormous head and shoulders. But what the universe was trying to tell me was that one should not use precious energy trying to open paths that may not lead us anywhere important in our lives, while other paths are already opened and can take us to fulfil our potential, even if at the time they don’t seem to do so!

Very soon, what stood out was that people would call me to teach them… and it soon was clear that teaching was my way forward.
What a turn in my destiny!

I already was a teacher since the age of 23, but then I had decided to be anything else but a teacher! It was as if it was just too easy and so I assumed that there should be something different and better in life for me. I judged my natural gift as not-good enough and had many dreams that I wanted to follow. In the pursuit of these dreams, I became a manager, a life coach, a Reiki Master, an author … yet nothing would set my future in a stable path of prosperity. Not to mention the amount of efforting or struggle that I had to put in the process!

Now, 21 years later and living in South Africa, far away from my home country of Spain, my life had given some huge turns. Tired of struggling and armed with the wisdom of my years, learnt with many teachers and having won and lost many battles, I suddenly decided that fighting my gifts was not a very smart thing to do.

It is true that like the Native Americans say, you have to learn the path of the Wolf: you have to travel to enough roads to know which ones don’t lead you where you want to go, so I indeed decided to make this opportunity my new beginning:
I took my public speaking diary in which I had all the shifts and stages of growth I had experienced for the previous 3 & half years, and as I was browsing though it, I came upon an entry from May 2008:
“Whenever I give a speech, people come to me to tell me that they liked it. Someone told me tonight that my speeches are always enlightening and inspiring. And as I am writing these notes in my diary, Spirit talks to me: forget about coaching or anything else; train people to speak!”
“Did I ever write that?” I wondered. I didn’t even remember I did! But yes, indeed I did; it was there, in colourful words, in my diary!
At this stage, I didn’t really think I had the necessary skills to do this job.
Spirit has a weird way of inviting you to take the challenging road, not making any promises, not telling you how long it will take. All you have to do is work towards it in full and fierce faith that you are doing the right thing and you are going the right way. And all you have to guide you is your little inner voice saying: keep going, keep going… For the majority of people, this is not enough security to make you give up the way of the world as we know it. Yes, the one ruled by money!

However, it was at that time when I had the unmistakable inner realization that not only I was a natural teacher, but that I was finally ready to embrace the fact that I loved teaching and teaching made me really happy! That I no longer considered teaching a low profession because it was easy.

With the new insights and the new personal power that I had acquired over the many years, teaching had now become the most desirable, comforting and soul-aligned profession that I could find! And just like that, I felt equipped to teach public speaking. Just like that, that gift that I had dismissed as unimportant so many years before became the centre of my life purpose.
And this is how this course was born: when I finally accepted and was ready to receive my natural gift. And it only took 21 years after my first attempt, 44 years in all!

That day in August 2008, after my speech, I made a note in my diary:
“If you are honest, have integrity, passion and self-belief, you become charismatic and magnetic. But if you wrap all this into a focus of service, helping others get what they need, you become powerful and influential”.

How much sense this was all making! And now, Archangel Gabriel’s card was saying that I should: “Focus upon your strengths, the many lessons you have learnt and how good it feels to be a living example of following one’s divine guidance”.
Finally, in November 2009 I was browsing through one of my friend’s “Healing with Fairies” from Doreen Virtue, PhD, and the card “New Opportunity” came up: “It is safe to trust and enter this new realm. You may feel intimidated or unqualified to move to the next level, but Heaven will guide you as you soar upward”.

By this time, I didn’t need any more confirmation. I was sure.
Not only because the messages kept repeating themselves but also because throughout this whole time of preparation, I had had the opportunity to assimilate this concept, this energy, this growth; and now, finally, it wasn’t something that I thought in my head that I could do but something that I knew it in my heart that I wanted to do.

I was ready.

In the following pages, you will not find a 100-tips-to-become-a-professional-speaker kind of manual. This course has been created with the intention to lead you and inspire you towards a path of personal development using public speaking as a vehicle. It is meant to help you transform yourself into a powerful speaker; a healed person who is ready to command your own authority in front of an audience or a group and an individual who is able to express, not just your ideas but your personality as well, without fear or self-doubt.

If you are looking only for tips and techniques of public speaking, don’t read further because you will be disappointed. But if you are looking for a course that will trigger a complete turnaround of your life by using public speaking as a tool or channel to reach out and give others a part of your soul, then you and I have met for a reason.

So, brace yourself because we are about to begin.

From:
“Dr. Ana's Course in Public Speaking: Transformation through Self-expression”
Link: https://www.createspace.com/3812540
(ISBN No: 9-781470-157272)