Brandon V Ray On The 5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Preparation is Key. You don’t want to “wing” anything. Give yourself enough time to research your subject matter and other aspects that will make your presentation impactful.
At some point in our lives, many of us will have to give a talk to a large group of people. What does it take to be a highly effective public speaker? How can you improve your public speaking skills? How can you overcome a fear of speaking in public? What does it take to give a very interesting and engaging public talk? In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker” we are talking to successful and effective public speakers to share insights and stories from their experience. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Brandon V. Ray.
Brandon V. Ray is a community leader and a Fortune 10 Government and Community Relations executive. He’s also the author of “Synergy Me! The Practical Guide To Becoming A Master Networker.” Brandon has served on many boards, including the United Way of Long Island, Vision Long Island, The Girl Scouts of Nassau County Inc., Mentor NY and the Union Baptist Church of Hempstead NY Board of Trustees.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I grew up outside of New York City in Hempstead, a village on Long Island, New York. My mother raised me, but I have been blessed to have both my mother and father in my life. I have always been one to make connections with the genuine intention to help people. This type of networking has led to amazing opportunities.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
In 2009, I was instrumental and active in reestablishing the young professionals auxiliary of the Urban League of Long Island, an affiliate of the National Urban League. I regularly attended National Urban League conferences, and one year I met an executive from AT&T while we were participating in a community service activity. My goal in connecting with the executive was to see if there was any synergy that could benefit my local affiliate. That relationship blossomed into an opportunity later that year where AT&T provided a grant for my local affiliate. Two years later, I accepted a newly created role in AT&T’s external and legislative affairs division. After that moment, I knew I wanted to pursue a career where I can help secure public-private partnerships.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I remember on one occasion when outside counsel served documents to a local municipality, unbeknownst to me. I planned to attend a fall festival in this municipality to introduce myself to the elected officials. After introductions, the elected officials were furious and kicked me out of the festival! This was the first time that ever happened to me. I reached out later to explain what happened and we laughed about it. From that experience, I learned to always know what every line of business is doing and how it might impact you and your relationships. I also learned the importance of trusting your instincts.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Many people have helped me get to where I am. I call them my ‘personal board of directors.’ But if I had to choose one person, it would be my mother, Lindell Ray. She instilled in me the importance of education, pursuing excellence and service. Her lessons have been a blessing to me over the years, and I’m grateful for her.
One story that comes to mind was when I needed to get an internship or summer job after my freshman year at Howard University. I wasn’t a finance major who had a track toward investment banking, and although I loved politics, I didn’t have insight or access to opportunities to intern on the Hill. Being a business major, I needed a job where I could combine sales, marketing and other business principles.
I decided I wanted to sell cars, so I printed copies of my resume and walked along the street where all the car dealerships were located. By the end of the day, I had a job in auto sales. I reflected on two lessons I learned from my mom: always believe in myself and stay committed to the plan. That job was one of the best roles I ever had, and I gained a new respect for the industry.
You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging and intimidating. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?
Be patient with the process. Volunteer and tell everyone what you want to do. No one can help if you don’t ask.
What drives you to get up everyday and give your talks? What is the main empowering message that you aim to share with the world?
What drives me is my desire to empower everyone with the tools to become master networkers. I want to leave everyone with the tools and perspective to feel as if they can walk into EVERY room and make meaningful connections.
You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?
My latest project is my book, “Synergy Me! The Practical Guide To Becoming A Master Networker.” Also, I plan to do more speaking engagements at colleges and universities to help equip students with the soft skills needed to make it in any sector. Networking is a necessary skill to be successful.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“You have to touch a heart before you can ask for a hand.”
In other words, focus on what you can give before focusing on what you can get. Business moves at the speed of relationships, and if you are only focused on what you can get from people, you are not developing genuine relationships. You are generating transactional relationships that will end once the transaction is done.
Ok, thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker?” Please share a story or example for each.
- Preparation is Key. You don’t want to “wing” anything. Give yourself enough time to research your subject matter and other aspects that will make your presentation impactful.
- Research your audience. This is key when it comes to crafting effective messaging. You need to ensure that you are delivering the right message to the right audience. This comes with researching who you are speaking to and considering if your message will be impactful. You won’t give the same message to college students that you would give to C-suite executives.
- Be Confident. You are the subject matter expert. Understand that, and enter with grace and confidence.
- Have FUN. Each public speaking experience should be one full of joy and opportunity. Go into it with a “Fun over Fear” mindset.
- Reflect. After each engagement, do a SWOT analysis of your presentation. Embrace feedback, celebrate your wins and learn from it so you can have an even better public speaking engagement next time.
As you know, many people are terrified of speaking in public. Can you give some of your advice about how to overcome this fear?
I’ll reiterate the advice I gave previously: Prepare relentlessly, be genuine and have fun!
You are a person of huge influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
The Synergy ME! Movement of networking. This is networking where you focus on what you can give rather than what you can get. If everyone is committed to giving, then eventually everyone will get. Everyone will have a “due season” moment.
Galatians 6:9 states, “And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
Mr. Les Brown. He is an amazing speaker, networker and philosopher who hasn’t forgotten his roots. Additionally, he strongly believes in paying it forward and empowering the next generation.
Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?
Website: www.brandonvray.com
Instagram: @brandonvray
Twitter: @brandonvray
Facebook: Brandon V. Ray
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/brandonvray
This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
