Pastor, author and speaker Charles Swindoll said: "The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it." Leadership guru John Maxwell's book titled "Leadership 101" echoes the same message. For public speakers, building a trustworthy basis for speaking on the topic of how personal attitude affects performance is essential to getting their audiences to engage in the process of changing their own attitude habits.
Public speakers must connect with their audiences emotionally as well as informationally. Information educates, but real life testimonies inspire. Public speakers should include in their presentations stories of those who have overcome adversity on their way to personal and financial success, and how their attitudes affected that transformation. These stories will help their audiences connect with the principles in the speech and internalize the message.
At the end of the day, attitude is a choice. We have less control over life than we would like, and in many cases the only choice we have is how we respond to what life throws at us. In the sports arena, whether it's a football field or basketball court, Little League or the Olympics, athletes learn that controlling their attitude is one of the essential elements of climbing onto the victors platform. Behind every successful team is a coach who understands these principles. Public speakers can draw from successful coaches such as Green Bay Packers legend Vince Lombardi or Los Angeles Lakers coach Pat Riley and their legacy of victories as they create content for presentations. The question to ask the audience is: "If these men and women can build success by mastering their minds and emotions, why can't you?"
Negative attitudes and destructive emotional energy are the surest indicators for failure. Audiences who attend presentations on attitude and how it affects their life's trajectory should also hear about the negative side of the equation. Both scholarly research and anecdotal stories show that fear is the opposite of faith and positive living. Audiences want to hear how to overcome the obstacles like fear and doubt that keep them from becoming successful.