How Did I Become a Public Speaker?

Somebody asked me this question yesterday and it slowly dawned on me that the answer was more complicated than I had initially considered. My first instinct was to say that I had gotten caught up in my colleague, Lawrence Watkins', idea to start Great Black Speakers (a bureau whose name speaks for itself). However, when I really started rewinding the tape, I realized I had possessed this trait far earlier than imagined.

Growing up in New York City, I remember the elementary public school grading system all too well. Instead of number grades, a student received letters, and was graded in about 50 different categories. E equated to "Excellent," G was "Good," S "Satisfactory," N "Needs Improvement," and U "Unsatisfactory (You suck, Fail, etc.)." School was never a challenge to me so I was always assured to have a strong showing of E's and G's through all of the school subjects on my report card. When it came to the behavior part... hmmm... not so much. It's not that I was a menace or bully or anything of that sort. My problem was wanting my voice to be heard. I went to school just to prove the teachers wrong. To show them that even with a single digit age, I was indeed smarter, brighter, and more ambitious than they were. I constantly pounced on correcting their spelling errors, mispronunciations, and incorrect facts. The greatest thrill I had was pointing these types of things out in front of the entire class. It drove my grade school teachers nuts! Therefore, every report card day I was certain to receive an N in the area of "Shows Self Control."

I've always been a speaker. Never could I bottle up these ingenious, sometimes devious, and many times incredulous ponderings of my brain. Not to brag, but I was the hands down selection for valedictorian in Kindergarten and Elementary school because not only was I gifted, but I let everyone know about it too. Middle School, High School, and College were a different story. It wasn't exactly cool to look like a neurotic egg head, so I reserved my speaking skills for special occassions and oh... umm putting in work with the ladies ya dig. Anyway, you can check my resume from there on out. I was born a speaker, it's who I am, it's what I do. If you have any questions about what's on my mind, book me and we'll talk about it ;-)