Leap of faith pays off
WHEN Manoj Vasudevan made history for Singapore by winning the third prize at the World Championship of Public Speaking in 2015 with his speech titled “We Can Fix It,” it raised a hope that capturing the “gold” was within the realm of possibility for the City State.
The next year, Singaporean Darren Tay won theToastmasters’ 2017 World Champion of Public Speaking title with his speech titled “Outsmart; Outlast.”
And in August this year, Manoj once again made the final and chose to use the same story of 2015, but with the different message, titled “Pull Less Bend More.”
This time around, it was his turn to claim the title.
“I wrote like seven speeches for the contest. When I looked at all them, I asked myself if I had seven minutes to tell something to the world — which one was more relevant.
“It was the one chance I got because after winning the Championship, I could not compete anymore; I’m not allowed to compete again and I wanted to win with a wonderful message.
“There were lots of speeches I could’ve won with but this was the most relevant and I wanted to give it to my audience,” he told thesundaypost in Sibu recently.
Manoj was a guest speaker at the Toastmasters District 87 semi-annual conference at RH Hotel Sibu last month.
“Pull Less Bend More” was a philosophical concept, addressing the problems of the world.
Manoj believes human ego is the reason for the world’s problems.
People fought one another and broken relationship occurred because people refused to give up their ego, he said, adding that he also understood naked truth could put his audience on the defensive.
Thus, in an attempt to open the window to the issue, he personalised the speech with his own marriage story and using cupid and arrow as a metaphor.
“I thought of saying ‘back off … chill … come and talk but if I said that, the audience would go ‘who are you to say this?’ This was when I went back to my life, picked a story and told them how I learned from it — which made more sense to them.
“I crafted a story that I am not perfect. I portrayed myself as not a perfect person. I used my experience and expanded it to the world,” he explained.
His aim was to make the audience feel they were not perfect, that when it came to cupid and arrow, it was not about the arrow but the bow.
“Some of us might pull too hard; what we should do is to pull less and bend more and when you do that, you will enjoy a long and stable relationship,” he pointed out.
Manoj knew he had touched the right chord as he saw some teary eyes in the audience during his speech.
He also had people coming up to him and saying “for my last relationship, I should’ve pull less and bend more.”
In fact, Manoj was so confident it was a winning speech that he even had his acceptance speech ready. Strong connection Since he was using the same 2015 story, why didn’t he win that year? First, one thing was certain. Manoj succeeded in creating a strong connection with his audience in 2015 by making them laugh. The audience enjoyed it, yet, it was not a clear winner. The ripple effect of that speech was obvious though. People who watched his speech on YouTube started to download the video and it went all over social media, especially Whatsapp, and Toastmasters wanted to use that video to teach people and he was even dubbed “Mr We Can Fix It.”
“I thought … wow … that’s an impact but why didn’t I win,” he recalled asking.
Looking back, he realised there was too much humour in the speech and people didn’t take him seriously.
“I didn’t tap into their lives. They just enjoyed the moment and I realised humour is actually a weak emotion.”
With hindsight, he removed the humour this year and started to think about their lives.
“There were people saying it was the same speech but 35 per cent of the context was totally different — humour was removed and emotion added,” he noted.
He also believed the message he gave this year was clearer than in 2015. No easy task Creating a winning a speech has not been easy. This particular speech took him about three months to rewrite and some speeches could take a few years. However, over time, he established a framework to help him do a good presentation — something that connects with the audience, is able to prove his points and elicit the kind of emotion he wants the audience to feel. “This is the framework of my writing — unless I do this properly, I’m not a good speaker. When I do this right, usually I can do very well,” he said. Manoj who does not consider himself a natural speaker, believes hard work plays an important role in a good presentation. He learned to overcome his fear of public speaking by structuring and organising his speech properly. Manoj started his career in engineering, working for a multinational company and was doing very well until “everything just stopped.”
No more promotions, no more increment and no new positions. When told he was not ready for the next level, he went for Masters of Business Administration (MBA) at Imperial College, London, but nothing changed.
He remembers being told “Manoj, you don’t have the skills to go to the next level. You just don’t have it.”
It was then he started observing people and came to realise the five core skills everyone should have to excel in any field — to connect, communicate, network, lead and influence.
When he realised he was stuck and had no much future in the company, he took the plunge in 2004, leaving his job to start his own consulting company.
“That was the time I really jumped into the pool where I forced myself to connect, communicate, network, lead and influence,” he remembered. The last thing However, public speaking was the last thing he tried because he feared it. That fear was one of the things that held him back when he was an engineer in the multinational company.
“When I was an engineer, I was not given a lot of opportunities to speak because they did not see me as the right person. I didn’t get much chance because I didn’t show any confidence. How could they trust me with the presentation when I didn’t show them I could do it,” he said.
However, once he started public speaking, he found it was a magical tool for marketing and establishing credibility and authority.
In September 2008, he joined the Toastmasters Club but only found the courage to start his first speech eight months later.
Once he got off the mark, he kept on and did his best. Three years later, he was among the
top 100 speakers in the world and the top 25 stand-up comedian by 2012.
“I’ve always taken the opportunity to speak to become a better speaker. I did it at work — I also did emceeing,” he said.
According to Manoj, he is more observant since becoming a speaker.
“Most people look without seeing, hear without listening, touch without feeling and eat without tasting. We’re always in this unconscious world but if you pay attention, everything becomes a story and you constantly look for content.”
He is now an international leadership coach, CEO of Though Expressions and an author of “The Mousetrap Way” — a book on leadership.
That book earned him an invitation by the Toastmasters International to talk on stage for an hour at the Convention in 2016. He could not compete that year because he was one of the invited speakers.
“I’m very happy I took action because over the years, not only have I helped myself but also other people to learn these skills,” he said.
Today, Manoj is working towards his dream of helping 20 million people to overcome the fear of public speaking.
How did he go from being unable to do a simple presentation to being able to speak to millions around the world — and now the world champion?
While there are techniques, he believes the key is self-belief.
“You need to believe you can be world class. If you have the right attitude, the right teachers and the right information and are willing to put in the effort, you can be a world champion.”
According to him, one of the biggest mistakes most speakers make is disconnecting who they are and what they say.
“There’s a real you and a projected you. Honestly, winning the world championship gives you nothing except a plastic trophy; no award money, but of course, there is this fame and awesomeness. “At first, I also looked for fame and trophy and awesomeness, but later, it’s not true – it’s actually an opportunity to talk to the world. So be genuine with yourself,” he advised. Manoj said the ability to compete made speakers more efficient in writing and speaking, adding that a good speaker is not to impress but to be a messenger, sharing stories and inspiring people to take action.
“Why do you want to be a world champion? Ask this question. For me, it’s to help more people, coach more people because by competing, I’m learning and growing with the objective of teaching somebody else,” he added.
I wrote like seven speeches for the contest. When I looked at all them, I asked myself if I had seven minutes to tell something to the world — which one was more relevant.