Finding My "Thing"
Joseph Panetta
Make brands stand out | Others say: ‘Creative | Innovative | Quick Study | Fresh Thinker | Holistic Strategist | Delivers Results Beyond Your Goals’
It’s 1982 and my junior high school English teacher asks me to stay after class – naturally, I obliged.?She handed me an envelope as she shared the following, “This is an entry form for a speech contest by the Optimist Club, have you heard of them?”?I shook my head no.?“Well, I think this is a fit for you – you have to craft a speech on a topic they supply and then there’s a contest.?Take this home and let me know what you think.”
My mother ALWAYS told me I would make my living with my mouth – she was never sure what that meant exactly until she saw how transfixed I became with news programs.?Then she added to her admonition ….”like Dan Rather.”
So this was my ‘chance.’?A speech.?Not under four nor longer than five minutes on the topic: You, I and Tomorrow.
Nervously I attended a lunch meeting of the Mississippi chapter of The Optimist Club later that month.?Against two competitors, I delivered my speech – and won!?My older brothers were teenage Eagle Scouts – a curriculum that did not suit me.?As the Club awarded me a gold medal, I wondered, had I found MY thing?
The only way to know was to move on in the competition….. I won the next round, and the next.?I was invited back the following year.?Same thing.
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After a four-year winning streak, I decided to step away.?At my final chapter lunch these Optimist Club members awarded me a small college scholarship.?It seems no one had ever won so many times and this was their way of showing appreciation.
I was touched – and still am.?Neither my 8th Grade English Teacher nor those Optimist Club members could know that I’d already won the best award of all.?I was able, at 14, to stand in front of a room full of strangers and deliver a speech.?I learned to engage an audience; to command a stage. To compete.
My brothers had sashes of merit badges from the Scouts.?I had a collection of gold medals from speech contests.?I had indeed, found my thing.
I’ve got a question for you – what’s your thing??And when did you find it?
People tell me my 'superpower' is storytelling, but a) I'm not sure it is my 'superpower', and b) if that is the case, I don't think there's been a 'Spiderman suddenly realises he can stick to walls' moment. I think, in contrast, my skill develops on a daily basis as I practice it. Every day I look at what I've done the day before and improve it, and then as I go along, I don't make so many of the mistakes I made last week or last month or last year. As long as I am getting better steadily, I think that's the best thing I can hope for. Superheroes spend about five minutes - usually in a montage - learning how to use their powers and then "that's it, I'm good". The Flash doesn't get any faster, Thor can't hit any harder with his hammer, whereas I think we mere humans have to build on what talent we can find in ourselves through years of practice. My goal in that is Effortless Accomplishment, and the more I do what I do (what I am...) the more natural it feels and the more accomplished I feel my work is.
Storytelling Expert
3 年Our superpower is something that comes relativity easy and so we think everyone can do it when in fact it is a "natural gift" we can develop. My superpower is helping people tell stories that make them compelling!