What do King Arthur, Luke Skywalker and Frodo have in common? Here is a clue – it has nothing to do with bestselling books or blockbuster movies!
They each had someone who recognised their potential, were more experienced and wiser and were willing to help them become more knowledgeable, confident, and achieve their goals faster.
King Arthur had the wizard Merlin.
Luke Skywalker had Jedi Master Yoda.
Frodo had Gandalf the Grey.
They each had a mentor.
Ok, so these are fictional characters, you may be thinking. But, is fiction not based on fact?
Use a mentor!
Whether you are an experienced speaker or just starting out in your speaking career, having someone who can help you achieve your goals faster is priceless.
Mentors are not only for novices. Experienced speakers use mentors to help them further refine their skills. They are people who have done it before and can share their stories.
A mentor will help identify the blind spots, provide speaker resources, demonstrate the best way to do something, provide constructive feedback and help with confidence.
Mentorship is a team effort
One person cannot know everything. Call upon the appropriate mentor for the appropriate skill at the appropriate time. TED speakers use more than one mentor. They may use one to help them craft the talk, a different mentor to help them master the delivery of the talk, one for voice training and yet another to help with structuring and putting together the slides or video clips. It is a team effort. Different people have different strengths; leverage these.
Mentorship is mentioned here in the context of speaking in front of an audience. AND the same principles apply in any and all contexts, e.g. work, sports, writing, blogging…you get the idea.
When have you used a mentor? Let me know in the comments.
See you tomorrow, same place, for N is for Notes (use thereof, or not…)
This post is part of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge and Twitter id is @AprilA2Z
It is interesting Regina that your post today was on mentoring and today post promp was on mentoring. Like you say what ever one is involved in there is always someone who is more knowledgeable and experienced in that field who can help you get better . I have had a lot of mentors in my life who have contributedto the person I have become. Thank you for a great post Regina.
Mabel Rudo Nyazika recently posted…Mentor Me
Oh, I had not noticed that the daily prompt was on mentoring, a happy coincidence.
Thank you for commenting!
My dearest mentor, Emily, helped my walk as a young Christian, very wet behind the ears. I still remember many of her words of wisdom. They have served me well. God knew how much I needed her early on. Her love & support allowed me to mentor others.
And I am certain that your love and support allow those you have mentored to become mentors themselves. Have you ever felt that there is an element of “paying it forward”?