Public Speaking (BEHIND THE SCENES) in my Business – Why I hold an OFFSITE FOR ONE!
This is an AI generated transcript so please forgive any errors and spelling mistakes.
Hi, it’s Shola here from Speak Up Like a D.I.V.A. Today I am starting off a new series in my videos my vlogs and my podcast and it’s called Behind The Scenes. While I absolutely love to share speaking tips with you I also get questions about the way I run my business and why I do certain things. I figured that I will have every couple of speaking tips after that I’ll have a behind the scenes video or podcast as well.
This is one of those and today I want to talk about why I have started running corporate offsites for one person. And that one person is me, because I do not run a corporation. I’ve got a small business which basically I’m the founder and then I have about five or six people who work for me in different capacities, doing certain things, but really truly it’s just me – Johnny no mates: Shola Kaye!
Before I go on and share why I’ve started running these offsites for one person I’d like to tell you a little bit about me. I’m a public speaking coach I’m a professional speaker and I’m based in London but I have clients all over the world and I help small business owners to speak up and grow their businesses. I also work in corporations going in and running training, master classes and of course keynote speaking.
Why have I started running these offsites for me?
Well there’s a number of reasons and I’m going to share them with you. Here today I’m at this lovely hotel which is in a city in the south of England called Bat. Bath is known for having Roman baths and it’s a beautiful beautiful city. I’m here today for a speaking gig and I thought well instead of going straight back to London after this speaking gig, why not have my corporate offsite here in this hotel? So I’m staying here tonight and I’ve got a bunch of work and activities lined up which I’m really looking forward to.
Public Speaking Business Tip #1 – making space to get things done
So why do I run these offsites for one person? Doesn’t it feel lonely? No, it doesn’t, because I absolutely love spending time by myself to get things done. That’s the very first reason why I love to come away, because there are no distractions. I’ve got to admit, I’ve got a guilty secret that I’m going to share with you. Yes, I’m going to share it and it’s that I’m one of those people who is very weak willed when it comes to… every time I do a teeny bit of work I run to the fridge and try and find something to eat. I love to eat and I see food as a reward and it’s something I’m working on. I’m in great health so it’s not a huge issue but it’s distracting!
If send an email and it’s “right, I need to reward, what’s in the fridge?” and then I answer a phone call “right, I need a reward, what’s in the fridge? There are tons and tons of distractions in my day when I’m working from home, so I’ve recently started to use co-working spaces and of course here I am at this lovely hotel. And it means that I don’t have – I think there’s a minibar but in this particular hotel it’s not even stocked – anyway, it means that I cannot keep running to the fridge to get some food every single time I’ve done five minutes of work. This also means that I can get on and do a block of activity without that idiotic distraction of mine. That’s the very first reason that I love coming away and do my off sites for one person.
Public Speaking Business Tip #2 – treating myself
The second thing is that I absolutely love staying in nice hotels. Now, some of you maybe you enjoy getting a massage, others love going out and splashing money on nice clothes. Massages don’t necessarily do it for me. I like clothes but I’m not one to go out and spend the day on a shopping spree. But I do love to stay in nice locations and for me this is a treat. It’s a little treat to say “Hey Shola, you’ve been working hard, you deserve to have some time away. You can still keep working (because I love my work!) but you can do it in a different environment”. That’s the second reason why I come off and have these little off sites.
Public Speaking Business Tip #3 – staying fresh and inspired
Now, a third reason (I’ve got a bunch of them written here, I probably won’t share all of them with you) but it’s also that it’s nice to have a change of scene. I’m sure a lot of you have experienced this, where when you go on vacation or you go on holiday or you might just do a staycation and be in the same city but being in different environments can be very very stimulating. And can be a great way to get some fresh ideas. So for me staying in a hotel, staying somewhere in a different town, different city, different country, is a wonderful way to stimulate the mind and be flooded with some new ideas for the future.
This is another reason why I love to have my little corporate offsites for one person. When I possibly can I do combine them with work so today, for example, is a work a work-related location but in the future, I am planning to do this regularly once a month just because I find it quite rejuvenating and as I say, it’s a little treat for myself.
Public Speaking Business Tip #4 – creating my company culture
In addition to that, as my company grows bigger and I become the size of GE or Microsoft… no, that’s not my goal at all! My business is very much a lifestyle business it’s not a business that I’m trying to grow to sell the company or anything like that, at least not yet. As I grow and as I have more staff working for me full-time or in a sort of a more of a full-time capacity at least, then by getting into this routine now I can bring those staff along with me on these offsites too.
I know when I worked in corporate any time we had an offsite it just felt great, it felt like the employer was investing in us and we also had some time to get to know each other better. As a result of that I’d like to do the same with my own company and my own staff. So in a way this is setting a trend for the future. I’ll start with me while it’s still small. Then as time goes on, hopefully I’ll be bringing more and more people on these trips with me.
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That’s it for me, it’s a little bit of a different video today, it’s behind the scenes it’s not a public speaking tip. It’s more tip about me and how I run my business and how I keep… try and stay fresh and enjoy myself while still working at the same time. I hope you enjoyed this and I hope you continue to tune into my public speaking tips and also for my Behind The Scenes visits as well.
If you’re interested in finding out a bit more about working with me then please go to my website sholakaye.com. You might be there already if you’re looking at the blog or the vlog, but if you’re listening to the podcast then go to sholakaye.com. I work with small business owners and also with corporates. If you’re interested in some corporate training master classes have a look where it says organizations or speaking. And, of course, if you’re interested in working with me as an entrepreneur then please do go ahead get in touch.
I’ll see you next time, take care. I’m gonna go off and enjoy my hotel room 🙂
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