The other day, I got of a tube at the Sagrera station in Barcelona. Like every time I merged with the masses and flowed towards the exit. Then, the choice… Escalator or stairs? Before August this year, I would’ve taken the escalator. But at the Annual Convention of Toastmasters International in Kuala Lumpur held in August, someone planted a mammoth tree seed in my mind. That someone is Rory Vaden, author of the New York Times bestselling book Take the Stairs.
That day, at the Sagrera station I took… the stairs.
Someone else also planted a mammoth tree seed in my head.
At a practical communication session of the Global Executive MBA program of IESE Business School one of the participants wanted to persuade us to reduce the level of salt in our daily diet. Before his speech he placed a regular bouillon cube in front of everyone.
When closing his speech he made us open the cubes, break them into two halves and then eat one half of the bouillon cube. I’ll never forget that horrible taste of pure salt. Now – every time I’m about to use one of those cubes I think back to that speech. Most of the times I avoid using them.
As public speakers we have the unique opportunity to plant seeds in the minds of the people. Those seeds can grow into a different way of thinking, a different way of feeling or a different way of acting.
When all three ways of behavior come together – that’s what I call a mammoth tree seed.