Doc Hendley

HENDLEY: There are a number of different messages that I try and convey depending on who the audience is. However, there are always a few themes I focus on, regardless of the group:

1. Everyday people have the ability to have an extraordinary impact on the world around them.

2. At the end of the day it’s not only our investment in the bottom line that makes or breaks our organizations and us. Our investment in relationships is equally as important.

3. It’s not “when” or “if” we fail that defines us or our ability to succeed; rather we are defined by “How” we deal with failures and hardships once they arise.

HENDLEY:

The pre-speech conference calls are extremely helpful for me to prepare for each event. I like to know exactly who the audience is that I am speaking to and why they are at that specific conference or event in order to prepare for my speech. Also, I really enjoy playing off of each event’s or conference’s specific theme if they have one (i.e. leadership, relationships, social responsibility, etc.).

HENDLEY:

I’ve had quite a few memorable events, each special in their own way. The ones I think of the most are events where I had a really special connection not just with the audience but also the client themselves. I can usually tell right there on the first conference call with the client if the event is going to be one of the more “memorable” ones. In my opinion that connection with the client or event host is every bit as important as the overall impact that I am able to make on the audience.

I’ve learned that the special groups of people who plan these events have a TON on their plates and their jobs are super stressful. So, I make it my personal goal to not only be one less thing that they have to stress about, but to take it a step further and actually have fun working together to help make sure that my speech has the specific impact they want it to have.

HENDLEY: I am very comfortable in university settings as well as with the health care industry. However, the last few years I’ve had a lot of opportunities speaking to audiences from the financial industry, (i.e. banks, investment groups, insurance companies, etc.). I’ve really enjoyed those groups because they challenge me and help me to think outside the box when it comes to my speech and what message I hope to convey. I love challenges and I was born to think outside of the box, so I reckon I have really started to look forward to those types of events as well.

HENDLEY: Any audience that wants to hear a message that is real and relatable to everyday people. I don’t have 10 steps to success. I don’t begin to think I know it all. And I sure as hell don’t think I have “arrived.” I am on this journey just like everyone else, and each one of our stories is unique in it’s own way.

My goal is to relate to the audience where they are right now and help encourage them right where they are. I never want to be the type that preaches about what things people should be doing and convey the message that only when they follow these steps or rules will they be able to relate to me as a speaker who has “arrived” at some unattainable transcendent level of understanding.

HENDLEY: My speaking engagements started almost 10 years ago with audiences of half drunk people in bars or after school programs of mostly runny nosed kindergartners; quite the contrast, yet equally entertaining in their own ways. I spoke out of a desire, or even a necessity, to tell whoever would listen about the need for clean water in this world.

Now my audience is different – just a bit! – and my message has changed or rather grown. Yes, I still speak about the great work that we are doing at Wine To Water, but my goal is to encourage people to use the gifts they’ve been given, or the jobs they have, to benefit the world or community around them in a unique and fun way.

HENDLEY: Many clients have followed up and shared stories of how they as corporations, or individuals within those corporations, have began giving back. It’s amazing the responses I’ve heard over the years. There are groups who have set up their own foundations to support their local communities, individuals who started putting together office service trips both home and abroad, as well as numerous groups that get directly involved with us at Wine To Water.

HENDLEY: Story telling is a very important factor in my speech, and humor is not just important it is vital. I actually have to try and include laughs throughout my speech because some of the stuff I talk about is actually really difficult for me to get through. If I can make the audience, and myself, laugh at the right time it keeps me from dwelling too much on the hard stuff and helps everybody have more fun at the end of the day.