I often hear people quoting, referencing, and reminding others about this:
If you don’t have something exciting to talk about, find something else that is worth talking about.
Up until recently, I have been seriously misinterpreting the quote, and I think many others might also.
Or put another way, I’ve found another way to interpret it.
I always considered it a rallying cry for eschewing the corporate lifestyle, the more menial tasks that this world requires.
But those things are what makes the world run. That’s why there is a market for those services and many rely on them for their livelihood.
As a CPA, I recognize the importance of sifting through a years worth of receipts, invoices, billings, etc. But it just wasn’t a fun story to tell friends.
That is, until I realized that it’s my task to find the beauty, the intrigue in the act. The energy I emanated about the reconciliations was what the audience picked up. It’s what I picked up at age 17 from a partner of a CPA firm that made it sound “cool” and “fun” to go into the profession.
The same goes for presenting. Regardless of how dry the material is, it’s your duty to find a way to make it intriguing.
Even exciting material if presented dryly loses its aura.
If you find it boring, how is the audience supposed to react? It’s essentially premeditated murder of any heightened mental state of the audience.
So find something awesome to talk about. Perhaps this means not to find something new and interesting, but rather to find the new and interesting in what you already do.
To get you one step closer to that state, here’s a pep talk from Kid President:
Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you. -Oprah Winfrey