Joy Loverde On The 5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Eat right and exercise. You can’t be a public speaker if you are not healthy. You will be expected to travel. If you don’t like to travel, you limit opportunities to be a public speaker.
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 Joy Loverde.
Best-selling author, Joy Loverde is a keynote speaker on the subjects of family caregiving and aging solo. Both of her books — “Who Will Take Care of Me When I’m Old?” and “The Complete Eldercare Planner” continue to receive national media attention. She has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, TIME, Money, New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, and Psychology Today among many others. Joy has also been interviewed on the TODAY Show, Good Morning America, NPR, and others. “The book is the best we saw,” says the American Medical Association about The Planner. Critics hail “Who Will Take Care of Me When I’m Old? as “illuminating, eye-opening, and required reading for everyone over 40.” She has written hundreds of blogs and articles which are posted on her website https://www.elderindustry.com.
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 in a primarily Italian neighborhood outside Chicago. No one locked their doors. The streets were filled with children of all ages playing games until the streetlights came on. I am one of five siblings. Mom cooked meals from scratch every night. Large family gatherings were the tradition for every occasion. Our grandmother, Nonna lived with us in her old age. My mother lived with me in her old age.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
Visiting a nursing home one Thanksgiving morning as a high school student volunteer opened my eyes to the abandonment of old people in America. Upon entering the nursing home, I observed seven residents sitting motionless in the dark. No one was talking. No one was smiling. Everyone was staring into nothingness.
I was shocked at what I witnessed, and immediately started grappling for answers to questions no one seemed to be asking:
Who are these elders?
What series of events led them to a life of resignation?
How did they end up isolated and alone in their old age?
And why are they not with their families on Thanksgiving Day?
Since that visit to the nursing home, I have never looked back. I vowed to find answers to these and other life-planning questions. For the next 40 years I would advocate and troubleshoot the causes, concepts, and needs of the world’s aging population.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Immediately after my first book — The Complete Eldercare Planner — was published by Random House, I was invited to give a speech to the medical staff at a local hospital. They were interested in learning how to improve quality patient care.
Little did I know at the time that speaking about my book topic (family caregiving) in front of a variety of audiences with different needs would jump-start my keynote and media-responder career. I was unprepared for the awesome responsibility of being a public speaker.
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?
When I started my career as a keynote speaker, I had no idea what I was doing. I got better and better as time went on. I also spent hours upon hours on YouTube watching professional speakers. Then came TED Talks. I am especially grateful to the pros who showed me the way.
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?
What will you regret by not facing your fear of public speaking? Will you regret not sharing what you know? Will you regret not being heard? Will you regret not making a difference. Live a life of no-regrets. Face your fear of public speaking and new doors of opportunities of all kinds will be open to you.
What drives you to get up every day and give your talks? What is the main empowering message that you aim to share with the world?
My subject matter is intense — family caregiving and aging solo. Knowing that I will make a difference in the lives of people who are caring for aging parents and people who are living alone is what drives me to do what I was born to do. After my talks, people rush the stage to tell me their stories — good and bad. By now I have heard thousands of stories and I am deeply touched by their honesty.
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?
As a consultant to professionals in the aging industry, my work is ever evolving. Right now I am most excited about “Project Respect” an LGBTQ+ initiative aimed at improving healthcare services for the gay population. The marketing campaign we have created gives a voice and a face to a LGBTQ+ survey that will save lives. I am working with Paul Nagle, Executive Director of Stonewall Community Development Corporation: https://stonewallvillagenyc.org.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote?” Will you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I saw this quote in a magazine over 30 years ago: What I do today is important because I am exchanging one day of my life for it.
These words are posted on my bulletin board next to my computer. I see the quote every morning and it never fails to wake me up as I start my day. People think they have all the time in the world to do what they say they will do, and they don’t.
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.
- Write a book. If your subject matter is important, it needs to be in writing. You must be willing to put your words down in black and white. You must also be willing to take criticism for your beliefs.
- You may be afraid of taking the stage because you think people are judging you — the way you look and sound, what you are wearing, and so on. And they are. People are always judging us. So what. Stop this unnecessary noise in your heard by shifting your focus on the needs of the audience. Ask yourself — is what I am saying helping THEM or is it all about me?
- Eat right and exercise. You can’t be a public speaker if you are not healthy. You will be expected to travel. If you don’t like to travel, you limit opportunities to be a public speaker.
- Give the people in the audience something to take home. Make your book available. If you don’t have a book, then write an essay on your topic. Make copies and distribute to the people who made the effort to be with you in-person and hear what you have to say.
- Practice your presentation until you practically know your talk by heart.
As you know, many people are terrified of speaking in public. Can you give some of your advice about how to overcome this fear?
Start small. Speak up at meetings. Volunteer to take on roles that gather like-minded people together for a cause. I once volunteered to be the chairman of a large fundraiser. This role includes giving a speech the night of the event. Speak about what you love and the words will come naturally.
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?
With millions of people aging solo, my book, Who Will Take Care of Me When I’m Old? sparked a movement called, “Let’s Eat Together.” Loneliness and isolation are serious health hazards, and sharing meals is an easy way to combat this world-wide crisis.
NOTHING binds us better than sharing a meal. Young and old. Rich and poor. Everybody can participate. Join the “Let’s Eat Together” movement and together we can change our lonely, isolated world one meal at a time. Check out my blogs for more ideas about staying connected: https://elderindustry.com/blog
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!
I would love to learn the art of the interview. Oprah is a master influencer and uses interviews as a way to change the world for the better.
Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?
Website: https://elderindustry.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/joyloverde
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/joyloverde
Twitter: www.twitter.com/joyloverde
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Joy Loverde
Instagram: www.instagram.com/joyloverde
This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
