Sasha Laghonh Of Sasha Talks On The 5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Keep learning about life. Life is about living. Through living we acquire experiences that yield stories for sharing and engagement. At least 98% of my content is derived from living and learning. No one said life is easy but it’s worth living!

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 Sasha Laghonh.

Sasha is a Founder and Entrepreneur of an educational and entertainment platform that integrates self & professional development into nurturing meaningful outcomes. As a speaker, mentor and author, she partners alongside different clients, from individuals to organizations, to capitalize upon their talent. She is the host in residence for KreativeCircle.com and Global Ambassador for Style My Soul, a Lifestyle & Interests Community. To learn more, please visit www.sashatalks.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 nurturing multicultural environment surrounded by family members representing different lifestyle interests. I recall my parents’ home was always inundated with books and newspapers at any given moment in time. Witnessing my parents engage in their respective hobbies encouraged me to pursue my interests. This allowed me to start competing in art and literary competitions from an elementary age. This continued for years until I started competing in business competitions which formally introduced me to the realm of entrepreneurship. One of my ideas was chosen by a major telecom provider which led them to buy out the idea and develop it. To sum it up, I grew up in an environment where innovation and taking healthy risks were encouraged. It has brought me this far in life which now allows me to create opportunities for other people to engage in their development.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

After investing many years in various sectors of business, I felt there were more avenues to explore for how I can better apply my skill sets to increase my overall return on investments. This is when I decided to leverage upon my prior managerial, leadership, teaching and communication skills. I was already well versed with speaking before academic, social and business audiences due to my professional & extracurricular commitments.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

It’s hard to extract one story since they are many that have left an imprint in my path. In the context of speaking and interviewing, I had an opportunity to conduct a face to face interview in person with a three time convicted felon. I knew he was armed and dangerous but I was safe because the inner voice told me I would be fine. Also security was present although they were situated out of sight. The interview was conducted at a public location therefore we didn’t want to startle any passerbys wondering if their safety was at risk. The interview covered the felon’s life history from the time he was adopted at the age of six months through the different chapters of his life laced with drugs and crime landing him in prison a few times. This interview was initially scheduled for forty five minutes, instead it ran for three hours. The subject shared stories covering his childhood, witnessing the MLK riots and Attica prison riots, the reasons behind his prison transfers, his reaction to learning all his friends were dead and ultimately his general views on life today. I appreciated his insights because he offered sensible tips on how I can navigate the crazy world today as a woman. How can a three time convicted felon offer sensible tips? Well…only the audience present that day would understand the context of the conversation.

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?

Ask third parties, individuals and businesses, on how they would like to be addressed. I’ve co-existed in environments where people have nicknames that have nothing to do with their name, or identity in any sense. I’ve met an individual who went by their pet’s name (note — not a pet name), this resulted in spending more time and energy on seeking this personality out. I have a rule if one can’t be reached within three minutes, cancel the request and move on to the next matter. If people truly need you, they’ll seek you out through the channel you extend to them.

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?

Eugene. A ‘thank you’ is extended to my drama and writing instructor. I was always amazed how he made time to meet with us individually, as students and working professionals, to discuss our work. His guidance on how we approached our individual work aligned with the evolving demands in the speaking realm. He was generous with his praise, even more generous with how he provided raw critique which granted us a healthy space to make mistakes so we can learn from them. Foremost, I credit him for teaching us about the virtues of generosity through sharing anecdotes of Job from the Bible. I recall when he passed away, a few of us members reconnected through our Alumni group to dedicate a toastmasters event in his memory.

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?

We all have to begin from somewhere. Life is about taking risks. There is no perfect moment to get started unless that’s an excuse people are hiding behind. My advice is, ‘give it your best, and see where you land’.

Keep refining your abilities and don’t hold your breath thinking someone will come rescue you. Take accountability for what you desire and make it happen. If you find it hard to follow these simple realities, then perhaps it’s time to change the company and the environment you surround yourself with — no one likes to hear this, the only one getting in the way of your goals is you. If you can’t sell yourself the idea, don’t expect others to buy it. Eliminate the whining and complaining from your rhetoric, work on yourself and the rest will start falling into place.

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?

I’m continually inspired to deliver talks because everyday brings new life experiences in my path which allows me to refine my perspective on things I’ve known and not known. It grants me an opportunity to reaffirm, question and release ideas that no longer serve my higher self. My main message to audiences is that they are responsible for creating the life of their choosing regardless of how their life story started out. If they’re drowning in a mess, take ownership and learn to change things around. If things are going well, continue doing well without taking things for granted.

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?

I’ll be presenting new content through new networks permitting Sasha Talks to connect with untapped audiences. I look forward to learning how these engagements unfold over time.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Don’t be an askhole.” — Unknown

It’s a wise quote because people have a tendency to ask a million questions about things then they fail to take any action to actualize their goals. Asking questions has its merit but taking it too far will make you another askhole in my books. This is why I don’t entertain askholes nor any of its derivatives. Less yapping, more working with purpose. I know you can do it!

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?”

1. Know Yourself. Investing in yourself — it’s simple. Learn what makes you thrive in life. These answers are going to come from within, not any external source that may want to program you or manipulate you in the process to become a person that is not aligned with your divine self. Growing to know yourself and learning to be comfortable in your skin will make a significant difference when you make decisions in life.
2. Keep learning about life. Life is about living. Through living we acquire experiences that yield stories for sharing and engagement. At least 98% of my content is derived from living and learning. No one said life is easy but it’s worth living!
3. Be true to yourself. Because an individual may know themselves, it doesn’t automatically mean they are true to themselves. Speaking is no different than any other craft, if something doesn’t feel right, refrain from acting upon it. Focus on what you do well. This will help abandon any doubts lingering around and within you. If you want to try new things, create bandwidth to develop yourself in that area.
4. When in doubt, say no to ideas and activities that fall outside of your speaking mission. You’re a speaker with a purpose. Refrain from becoming a jack of all trades and a master of none.
5. Focus on the message. This will prevent all the posturing that speakers do on stage because they are focused on themselves more than the audience who is present to extract value from your message. It also helps with relieving the jitters and butterflies in the stomach.

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’m a work in progress in this department. I do my best to remember to focus on the message. When the speaker is distracted, the audience becomes distracted. Remember, you know what you will say which should help you manage your situation.

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?

I encourage people to tap within their speaking skills. I believe most people have an applicable message that can benefit people in their respective lives. Anyone, from the young to the elderly, can leverage their life experiences by teaching others.

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 think lunch with Oprah would be interesting because she appears very down to earth that I have no expectations of what she would be like. She is well versed with life experiences that I suspect a hello can lead to learning something new about life.

Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?

Readers are welcome to visit Sashatalks.com and connect through the Contact page.

This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!

Likewise. Thank you very much!