Ni REGGEE BONOAN
NAGSALITA si Boy Abunda sa Asia Professional Speakers (APS) Convention sa Singapore kamakailan na dinaluhan ng 200 professional public speakers.
Ang leading member ng APS na si Fredrik Haren ang nag-imbita kay Kuya Boy.
Binigyan ng standing ovation ang Tonight With Boy Abunda host sa kanyang speech na may titulong “The Fab Sermon: Don’t Just Be A Speaker, Be A Star.”
“I knew speaking in front of all those people would be like dancing ballet before some of the best ballerinas,” kuwento ni Kuya Boy. “Intimidating ‘yung pagkakataon but I didn’t wallow in the idea of it being intimidating.
“While I was preparing my materials, I looked at the whole thing as an adventure. I was going beyond my space of influence. It was exciting because it was an exploration of what I didn’t think I could do. I never imagined I could be a professional public speaker.”
Nabanggit ng King of Talk sa speech niya na magkapareho ang public speakers at ang mga kilalang pangalan sa showbiz.
Nais niyang patunayan na ang public speakers at celebrities ay nagtataglay ng tinatawag na “the commonality of the star experience.”
“For example, when Meryl Streep won her first Oscar for Kramer vs Kramer, she played a mother, Meryl said, ‘When I played that role, I wasn’t a mother. But I knew what kind of mother I was going to be.’ She imagined herself as a mother when she did that movie, and now she has an Oscar to show for it.
“Great imagination begins where talent ends. It prolongs the life of talent to eternity. But you can only travel into great imagination if you have genuine talent. You can’t fake talent.”
Dagdag pa ni Kuya Boy, hindi dapat mawala ang karisma o presence sa iba’t ibang koneksiyon at X-factor, at dapat magkaroon ng great sense of occasion ang stars sa kanyang mga manonood. Natutuhan niya ito sa frontman ng U2 na si Bono.
“Sabi ni Bono, stars should know that their audience is temporary so they’ll work hard to keep them hanging on as long as possible. Also, a star shouldn’t linger — he or she should know when to enter and exit.
“By discussing the principles of being a star from my point of view as a talent manager, I was trying to tell the speakers that it’s not enough to just speak, nor is it enough to be informative, scientific or thorough in your speeches.
“You have to be a ‘star speaker’ – someone who changes minds and lives and touches people, someone memorable,” paliwanag ni Kuya Boy.
“Magandang-maganda ‘yung naging karanasan ko sa Singapore,” aniya pa. “Now, I want to make public speaking my profession. I want to take it seriously. Also, with some friends — who are among the best speakers in Asia, sina Fredrik Haren, Jerome Joseph, Tom Abbott — I’d like to align myself with the best global public speakers.”
Ikaw na talaga, Kuya Boy Abunda!