Episode 153, Five Commencement Speeches that can help your Business!

Simplify Your Sales and Business meetings. Lisa Thal is an Author, Speaker, and Business Coach. She has over 35 years of marketing, sales, and leadership experience. She wrote the book "Three Word Meetings."  Lisa coaches leaders on simplifying sales and business meetings with fun and interesting 3-word  topics to get your sales team motivated and inspired.

 

Episode 153, Five Commencement Speeches that can help your Business!

 

It's Graduation Time! Congratulations to the parents who have kids who are graduating or the adults who earned their MBA or new certification. Three Words, You did it! It's like Warren Buffet says the best investment you can make is in yourself.

 

All graduations have some form of Commencement Speech. These speeches are Educational, Entertaining, and Inspirational and designed to help us transition into the business world.

 

I reflected on seeing if I could remember my High School and College Commencement speeches. Now that was a long time ago, and sadly I do not. Perhaps I was distracted talking to my sister Lynn and missed it. For me to retain important information, it has to connect to me. More importantly, if you can keep the message simple ( maybe three words laughing), you can recall the wisdom you learned.

 

I thought I would share a few of my favorite Commencement speeches that can apply to your Business and a simple phrase my nephew Will lives his life by that you are sure to remember!

 

View setbacks as opportunities / Steve Jobs, Stanford University, 2005

This powerful speech from the late Steve Jobs (entrepreneur, Apple founder, and tech icon) will resonate no matter where you're at in your career.

Sharing stories from pivotal events in his life — getting fired from Apple, and receiving a cancer diagnosis — Jobs explains that your setbacks often lead you to success.

 

He encourages you to approach every obstacle as an opportunity to learn and pursue the work that inspires you. He says, "The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do."

 

Successful business owners are always willing to learn and evolve. Whether you look to podcasts, past teachers, mentors, or other business owners, you can find valuable lessons about fear, change, growth, and purpose.

 

Embrace failure / J.K. Rowling, Harvard University, 2008

J.K Rowling wrote Seven Harry Potter Books because she Embraced Failure. In her speech, J.K. Rowling talks about the inherent value of Failure: it helps you succeed. Drawing on her experience as a poor single mother struggling to publish her first book, Rowling explains that Failure can be a driving force: that liberates you from fear and motivates you to pursue what you want most.

 

As she puts it, "It is impossible to live without failing at something unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all — in which case, you fail by default." Take a cue from Rowling and embrace your business failures as opportunities to grow and become bolder.

 

"If it doesn't feel right, don't do it." — Oprah Winfrey's 2008 speech at Stanford University.

Don't sacrifice Happiness for Money! "When you're doing the work you're meant to do, it feels right, and every day is a bonus, regardless of what you're getting paid," she said.

Oprah shared that feelings are your GPS for life. She said you could feel when you're doing the right thing in your gut. Your emotional guidance system lets you know when you're supposed to do Something or not supposed to do Something," she said.

She explained that doing what your instincts tell you to do will make you more successful because it will drive you to work harder and save you from debilitating stress.

 

"If it doesn't feel right, don't do it. That's the lesson. And that lesson alone will save you, my friends, much grief," Winfrey said. When you don't know what to do, get still, get very still, until you know what to do."

 

Spend less time dreaming and more time doing / Shonda Rhimes, Dartmouth, 2014

Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, and Bridgerton would not be possible for our entertainment viewing without Shonda Rhimes. Her commencement speech message was about what to do if you feel overwhelmed or paralyzed by the dreams you have for your Business.

 

Shonda Rhimes shares, "While [some] are busy dreaming, the really happy people, the really successful people, the really interesting, engaged, powerful people, are busy doing." Dreaming is only effective if you follow it with action — whether you're brainstorming a new business model or imagining how to grow your company. You don't even need to know what you want to do. Rhimes says the most important thing is to stay open to possibilities and start somewhere.

 

 

If there is a Will, there is Way / Will Fick Penn State 2022

Will Fick is my nephew, 24 years old, with Down Syndrome. Thanks to the Live stream, I was able to see Will in his Blue Graduation gown walk with others to get his diploma. Will earned his certification from the College of Education, "Worklink Strategies and employability ."The WorkLink program provides an opportunity for individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) to participate in postsecondary experiences and education alongside their peers. 

 

This program provides Will with the skills to work in the business world.

 

" If there is a Will, there is a Way." I share this simple phrase because I believe it can inspire you with your Business. Will has never met a stranger; he is excited to learn new things.

 

As I watched Will grow into a young man, I learned many lessons from him. Be Kind, Laugh, Learn Something new each day, Let go of the past, Live in the moment, and yes, If there is a Will, there is a Way!

 

So I encourage you to stop and think about your commencement speech. What words of encouragement and inspiration can you share with yourself that can inspire you to keep investing in yourself and your future.

 

It's all about your perspective, and if you have the Will, you can find a Way!

 

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Learn more about Simplifying Your sales meetings using 3-word topics at http://www.threewordmeetings.com.