I’m writing this on a train that’s going nowhere, in the middle of the night, at Southern Cross station in Melbourne. Why I’m here is a long and wonderful story so I’ll start at the beginning since I have time. Today is Monday and I’d arranged to have a coffee date with my good friend/ mentor/ cheerleader Claire to discuss all things ‘life’ with a focus on my upcoming book and her latest exciting project.
Like most of our conversations, I left with a full cup after we traversed all manner of topics, one in which was a conversation about Mykel Dixon - an awesome keynote speaker that I’ve admired from afar and suggested Claire should follow. I also spoke to Claire about writing my book as a way of getting into public speaking and being the cheerleader she is, she suggested that I don’t need to wait for the book and should look into it now. When I got home, there was a link to Professional Speakers Australia (PSA) from Claire in my Linkedin inbox. While I was floating around in Linkedin a post popped up from Mykel Dixon:
If you're a professional speaker, have a secret desire to be one, or want to level up the way you present...then join us TONIGHT!
I'll be sharing all my hard-won secrets about standing on a stage with the wonderful folks at the Professional Speakers Australia - PSA
And it's a public event, so anyone can join.
I had to read it twice because I thought maybe I’d got my messages crossed since I was just talking about him but it turns out that Mykel was in fact speaking on that very night. I said to Matt, ‘you’re not going to believe this babe’ and explained the conversation I’d just had with Claire and the event I’d seemingly conjured up from my imagination. Matt said I should just go. I thought about it, looked into the logistics, found out it cost $80 for non-members and what train I might catch IF I was going to go. It all got too complicated so I put my laptop down and started reading a book for work. It didn‘t take long before I realised that I’d been reading the same sentence over and over again because I was constantly getting distracted by the idea of going to this event…
Fuck it.
It genuinely felt like that universe had created this event just for me so I brought the ticket, commented on the event in LinkedIN as a way of cementing my commitment “Last minute mission from Ballarat to see this Mykel Dixon 🎤 Going to be a blast!“. Last week I’d spent a session with our Student Leaders at Ballarat Tech School telling them that the stories we tell are evidence of who we are. I needed to heed my own advice and the ‘Jess’ I want to be would absolutely drop everything a jet down to Melbourne into the unknown.
I had to rush to get the 4.10 train to the city. In the chaos, it turns out that I’d misread the VLine app and it was a coach and not a train. I have a fear of catching couches from Ballarat - they have ALWAYS been super late and I get exceptionally powerful travel anxiety so I was apprehensive about boarding the bus. As luck would have it, this bus journey was perfect - we even arrived 5 minutes early. I congratulated the driver Darryl for such a seamless journey and he said it was the best run he’d EVER HAD! See, this was meant to be.
I walked down to the event in South Melbourne, took a deep breath and walked in like I was meant to be there. I walked in so confidently that I just found a random group of people, thinking they were part of the event and had a wonderful conversation with them. It was only when the group of professional looking people on the table next to us stood up and announced that the event was about to start that I realised the lovely ladies I was talking to weren’t part of the group I was meant to be with! I had a wonderful conversation with my two new friends so it was definitely a happy accident!
The main event was Mykel Dixon sharing his experiences as a professional speaker to a room of professional speakers. It was the ultimate industry insight, an industry I’d known about for approximately 3 hours. To my delight and surprise Mykel opened by asking who Jess Kelly was because she’d come all the way from Ballarat at the last minute for the event! He’d read my LinkedIN comment.
This moment set the tone for the rest of the night! It was surprising, fun and insightful. Mykel spoke about authenticity and living your true self. Figuring out what you have to offer the world and giving it graciously while getting paid! It was about sharing your energy and helping others thrive through the medium of public speaking. I gulped down the Kool-aid.
If there was EVER a moment for this advice to be delivered it was today and it was in this exact format! It was in person, surrounded by encouraging and supportive people that I didn’t even know yet! It was one explosive idea or insight after the other - I must’ve looked like a grinning idiot as I soaked it all in. I was in the right room, with the right people, doing the right thing. Authenticity is key and I think any one who has read anything I’ve ever written or said would testify that being ‘Jess’ is my jam. All I need now is gigs…
Mykel spoke about not creating content but about creating a universe around yourself. What is the fullest expression of your ‘aliveness’. Where do you make the most impact or want to? Whatever that is, you need to ‘be’ it with all of your being! That's what makes a good professional speaker and that vibe will bring the work - now more than ever as audiences are feeling more disengaged and are craving genuine human connection.
I felt it! I still feel it. This sense of clarity. Of understanding what I have to do next. It’s wild and crazy but that's what the world needs right now. There is a market for it and all of the people I managed to talk to at the event were so encouraging! The support and comradery was palpable. People shared their wisdom so generously and I was literally welcomed with open arms. With only one professional speaking gig under my belt, I know this is a space I can make an impact and it aligns beautifully with my part-time work at the Tech School as facilitator.
I’m now sitting on another train at 1.30am in Sunshine* as our train was replaced by a coach then another train after a chemical spill on the tracks in Footscray. I’m going to be SOOOO tired for work tomorrow but you know what? I don’t care. This night could go down as one of those important, pivotal moments in my life. It has simply become more evidence of who I am and who I want to be in the future. Everything is either good news or a good story, right. This is a great story.
*I eventually got home at 3am. It has been a long week…
