Jaynie5

I started my blog, Jayne's Breast Cancer Blog, the day of my first chemotherapy session.

It's in transition now... I still love blogging but my story has quieted down (and I obviously hope that it stays that way!!!) now that I'm 14 months post-diagnosis.

The subtitle of my blog is "Exploring the Intersection of Cancer and Creativity" and that's what I'm interested in blogging about.

A local news crew came to my house in June and did an "Inspired Living" piece about me and my blog.

If you go to my June 26 post you can click on the link to the TV segment.

One of my favorites is Breast Cancer Chronicles by Lillie Shockney. She is a survivor and a breast cancer expert. Through her writing and her work she gives SO much to the BC community.

mkurtzman,

Do you have a local Komen affiliate? Is there a cancer treatment center nearby? You could get in touch with them and let them know that you are willing to speak at events.

I would expect that they'd be ultra-glad to hear from a male breast cancer survivor.

As for contacting newspapers and Tv directly, maybe you'd have a better response around October. Lots of places are looking for stories then because it is breast cancer awareness month.

Good luck!

Wow, loved that article.

Pam,

Thanks for sharing your experiences. How did you get the speaking opportunities?

So far, everything that I've done (and I just turned down a local TV spot because I was having surgery that day) came from being asked by the breast cancer organizations that I volunteer for.

On breast cancer so far I've done a radio interview, that speech listed above, and I participated in a documentary film (I gave an interview). I haven't seen the film yet, so who knows, maybe I've been edited out ha ha.

I received my opportunities through old-fashioned networking, not much different than the way business networking is done.

I go to my support group and we share info about upcoming events.

I keep in touch with the folks who treated me at my cancer center and am willing to volunteer time and brain-power to their outreach programs.

It's not like I do these things in a calculating manner. It's just that I'm generally outgoing, enjoy talking to people, and like being involved in my community. Oh, and I need reasons to get out of the house!! (Edited to add: At the risk of stating the obvious, all of this stuff is done with the intention of raising awareness about breast cancer in the general population. In my case I've chosen to focus on young women).

I'm more-or-less just a stay-at-home mom plugging away at a fledgling writing career from my home, which I point out so that you know I don't have "connections" of any sort. If public speaking is something that interests you, just start letting people know that you're interested. Lots of community organizations are seeking speakers.


One more thing: after the BMW event, I called the dealership manager and personally thanked him. I also sent thank you cards to each of the key organizers of the event. People work really hard to put these events together, and I'm certainly grateful for their efforts.

Once you get started you build momentum and then people think of you the next time they are looking for a speaker.


Hope this helps someone who wants to get started!!

AlwaysHope,

Thank you for the welcome and the kudos. But as far as the kudos go, it (the speech and the whole event) was fun for me. Although as soon as the speech was over, I was fretting over how I could have done it better - but that's normal, I think. I'm OK with learning as I go along.

I just gave my first Big Speech about breast cancer, and I'm hoping to do more public speaking on the topic.

So I thought that I'd start this thread for those of us who are doing public speaking or are just interested in the possibility. We could share ideas, tips, etc.

I gave my speech at my local BMW dealership. I was nominated to be the Local Hero at the BMW Ultimate Drive for the Cure and there was great local press coverage.

I chose to speak about (a) the Survivor Community - that my participation in it has had tremendous healing value & taken away much of the loneliness of the journey (b) therefore I want to encourage others to participate in some way - we all have different gifts to offer (c) I take every opportunity available to me to mention that YOUNG WOMEN DO GET BREAST CANCER.

I think that I did reasonably well, but I am looking into taking a public speaking class and/or going to Toastmasters. I want to improve my skills!

Anyone else?