Diana Vitan is a 32 year-old Romanian public speaker and the owner of Diana Vitan Consulting & Training, a company specializing in personal and business development programs. At the end of 2012, she became the first woman to win the Best Public Speaker Award in Romania, running against an all-men competition made up of experienced speakers.

Click here to view the first part of this interview.

Toonari Post (TP): How do male public speakers react to you?

Diana Vitan (DV): Men react the way anyone does: If they didn’t react, they wouldn’t be men, right? I’m just kidding. Actually, I wouldn’t divide this one up by sexes. There are people who know how to win by losing with grace and people who are willing to lose by winning dirty, it all depends on what you choose.

I chose to take the positive out of each experience and to enjoy each plus. I remember the movie ‘The Pursuit of Happyness‘ when Will Smith’s character told his son, “Don’t ever let anyone tell you what you can’t do. Not even me!”

The first four speakers designated by the online poll were all named public speaking champions, but I would have given this distinction to the entire top fifteen. They’re all strong names that have helped shape Romanian business development, and it’s an honor for me to be the lady in this extraordinary group. We’re all winners.

TP: Are you a trendsetter for Romanian women?

DV: Fortunately, there are many female public speakers in Romania, so I’m not. I may have more experience and I am unique because of the structure of my activity, because I’ve spoken in front of more than 50,000 people and I’ve worked with big names such as Paul Martinelli, Roddy Galbraith and Christian Simpson.

I also stand out by having founded one of the first personal development schools in Romania and by running a program called “Keep your head up!” the first one of its kind in the country. But I wish to support any woman who resonates with me and with my speaking style and, at the same time, I’d like to take part in events organized by other women public speakers in order to learn new things.

TP: Paul Martinelli, one of the most renowned public speakers in the world, became your coach. How did that happen?

DV: Yes, I am Paul’s only apprentice in Europe and I’m proud of it. Furthermore, after two years of apprenticeship, I am his teaching partner in Europe. It first happened when I started leading the personal development school that I mentioned. I teamed up with my colleagues, Milan Menghesi and Sorin Popa and we asked him to participate, and he said yes!

He saw me on the stage and told me he’d like to see me speak in front of a smaller group (20-30 people), speaking on a subject of his choice, which I did. And he told me I was part of the two percent of the native public speakers in the world. For me, this was a huge compliment and a yes after a huge amount of work. What followed was a period of two years of online collaboration five days a week, and me appearing on stage with him for the next six times he came to Romania, as well as working with him on his “Power Principles” in London where I met Roddy Galbraith and Christian Simpson.

TP: Was it easy to be taught by Mr. Martinelli?

DV: I am proud to have learned from a master of this caliber. Paul is an extraordinary friend and a tough teacher, as well as an exceptional motivator. During our “scrambling eggs” sessions, as he called his private coaching, I felt like giving up many times, but I realized it was just his way of making me become more driven. I am certain that no Romanian or European school could have given me the kind of intensity that his teachings gave me.

I learned to discover myself, to be a professional and to educate others. The success of my projects shows that his plan worked. My style, which was neither European nor Balkan, challenged him to “break me” and to teach a student who thought she knew it all, the most important lesson of all: to learn to forget, and then to learn again. After being a tough teacher, Paul has remained a good friend and a role model who is proud of my every accomplishment.

TP: What do you have in store for this year?

DV: For 2013 I have some surprises for the Romanian public! That is all I want to let you in on! Because the Romanian public deserves surprises and because we wouldn’t exist without them, without a public that takes us in, loves us and follows us!

Image Courtesy : Diana Vitan

The article Diana Vitan Speaks Way to Top Romanian Speaker Award, (2/2) appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Diana Vitan is a 32 year-old Romanian public speaker and the owner of Diana Vitan Consulting & Training, a company specializing in personal and business development programs. At the end of 2012, she became the first woman to win the Best Public Speaker Award in Romania, running against an all-men competition made up of experienced speakers.

Although always on a tight schedule, she managed to squeeze in a little time to talk to Toonari Post about her experience and key moments in becoming Romania’s top public speaker.

Toonari Post (TP): How would you describe public speaking?

Diana Vitan (DV): Like any other aspect of life, I can really say that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” The art of speaking in public is a general notion, which can translate either into a job, a necessity or a terrible fright – it mainly depends on who you ask. For me it has definitely been a passion turned into a job. I consider public speaking to be the art of delivering a message in the most beautiful, clean and appealing way.

TP: How is this profession evolving nowadays?

DV: In the 21st Century, the era of technology and speed, communication has new meaning, new form and new priorities. People feel more comfortable communicating through email, chatting or socializing online, so one might think that live interaction is more and more scarce.

However, for public speaking, this is actually a step forward. You see, my grandfather taught me that it is not the new that is to blame for the loss of the traditional, but the lack of imagination and persuasion in adapting the traditional to the new. I firmly believe that this century is the time for strong speeches, for concentrated communication, that combines the technical and the emotional in the most efficient way.

You have to be better, more concise and more connected in order to deliver the best message. The best people are those that keep reinventing themselves.

TP: Is there a difference between Europe and the U.S., regarding your area of expertise?

DV: Let me ask you a question in return: Have you noticed the difference between the Academy Awards and the Cannes Festival? The U.S., the land of motivation and positive messages vs. Europe, the Old Continent of theatrical art and artistic detail? Each style has its own pulse and, although I really do appreciate the elegance and reasoning of the European speech, I’ve nurtured myself with American motivational literature and American public speaking role-models.

Lately, I’ve rejoiced at seeing Europe make more and more room for the wave of personal development initiative, that needed to successfully complete the public speaking family – and this trend has swept Romania as well! Here, the transition from sales training, to business coaching, to life coaching, and finally to personal development has happened in a natural and beautiful way.

The Romanian audience is becoming more and more receptive to personal as well as business development through guidance (events, books, consultants) – and this has translated into a market demand and a success story at the same time.

TP: What does your audience look like?

DV: I get to talk in front of students, young entrepreneurs, corporate players, freelancers, people in need of personal and professional development – people who want more.

TP: More of what?

DV: More clear objectives, this before anything else! Because if you start with a wrong “why,” i.e. a wrong motivation, you end up setting wrong objectives that you can either not reach – and that’s when you become frustrated – or reach  only to find yourself dissatisfied and constantly searching for more.

TP: How do you work with your audience?

DV: You start to touch people’s lives the moment you help them discover two magical buttons: : “potential” and “passion” – this is where it all begins. I’ve noticed something strange: While people search for passion, they forget to live passionately. How can that be? Most people are searching for their area of genius, of excellence, for their way. Unhappy for not getting there soon enough, they become dissatisfied and frustrated.

When I ask them “What is your passion?” I can see it in the eyes of many that they’re confused and sometimes downright angry for not having found it – and I ask them this: “How can you discover your great passion if you’re not doing everything you do with great passion?” If you’re a telephone switch operator – be the best telephone switch operator in the world and you’re not going to be stuck there for much longer.

TP: You’re the first woman to win the Best Public Speaker Award in Romania!

DV: This is true! But this is also the first Romanian contest of its kind, organized at a national level within the Business Days circuit of events by Laszlo Pacso, the president of the Online Communication Solution Developers Association (ADESCO). There were more than one hundred Romanian speakers talking in front of more than one thousand participants in a two-day event that toured the major cities in the country.

The feedback from the public helped trim the number of the speakers to a top fifteen, and these top speeches were posted on YouTube, where a voting poll decided the winners. I came up on top after the online poll, but I don’t believe that it necessarily means I am the absolute best speaker. I have a lot of respect for all the other speakers, some of whom have a lot more experience than me.

The best speaker is the one that resonates with a specific audience and the one that adapts the fastest and in the best way. I intend to continuously work and improve myself for the people that choose the hear me.

Click here to read the second part of this interview.

Image Courtesy : Diana Vitan

The article Diana Vitan Speaks Way to Top Romanian Speaker Award, (1/2) appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.