It's a Wrap! Thank you, 2018!

2018, what a year it has been!  

Started out slow, the year moved into fast momentum as the months moved along.  In restrospect, here is the summary of my 3 learning points for this year:

1) Speaking professionally - it’s not about getting up the stage, take the mic and say the first thing that comes to your mind.  Just like any other profession where learning and training are required to bring out the best in the profession, so do professional speaking.  My speaker buddy, Jit Puru, reminded me of such when he made me diligently prepared before I could take the stage in his Ideas and Inspiration, a TED-like talk event.  While my slot was slated for 16 October 2018, my mentorship under him started in July 2018!  I would always be grateful to Jit for that opportunity to speak and be under his wings.

2) It’s all about giving - I learnt about this many years back, and had the best opportunities to do that when I met with another speaker buddy, Rahul Shah.  Through his Up Your Game Personal Development community events, together with other speakers, we gave back to the community - doing what we are best at - speaking!  At the various Southeast Asia’s UYG conference platforms, we travelled to Jakarta, Bangkok, Penang, and KL to speak (based on our expertise).  And the events were free for the audience, especially suitable for those who would want to learn about personal development but cannot afford the fees.

3) The Power of Social Capital - one of my business mentors, Farid MN (who now runs a fintech firm, Walletku, in Jakarta) never stopped emphasising to me that in business, it is not enough if one has very good products.  It is who you know, and more importantly, who knows you that will lead you to business growth.  A very simple analogy, you don’t have to offer your services to Person A.  Because Person A knows Person B who needs your kind of services, Person A’s recommendations could bring you to clients like Person B.  When I applied this mindset in 2018, I pulled off two book projects where I co-authored with various other authors this year, making them my fifth and sixth books under my belt, something I never thought of when I first started in my speaking career.  The power of Social Capital.

How about you?  What are your takeaways from 2018?


Towards your continued success,

Hazriq Idrus
Applied Creativity & Public Speaking Strategist
Author of 6 books, including "The Stage Fright Antidote"

Hazriq Idrus is a stage actor-turned-professional speaker on Applied Creativity, Creative Leadership and Team Engagements.  Using techniques from the theatre, Hazriq delivers keynote talks and training programmes that are interactive and experiential in nature. He founded The Speaking Factory Pte Ltd with a mission to help people and teams innovate and communicate with impact by tapping on their inner creative geniuses.  Hazriq is contactable at [email protected].

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