I have known Sebastián Lora for just over 8 years. I have always been impressed by his ability as a communicator. I would say innate because I have always seen him that way, but when he tells his story it is clear that it is not innate at all.
As he likes to say: “It is deliberate practice that makes the master”.
In fact he has been my mentor in our Toastmasters public speaking club.
It makes me laugh when I say “our”. It sounds like he’s mine. But it’s not really a club you join. It’s a family that adopts you.
Back to Seb. What amazed me the most when he left his permanent job in a responsible and, I guess, not badly paid position a few years ago to take the leap into entrepreneurship as a communication skills trainer.
Really?
Is he crazy?
Time will tell, but so far he seems to be doing pretty well.
And he seems very enthusiastic about his project.
In recent months I have had the good fortune to collaborate with him as a speaker coach at TEDxArxiduc, which was held last Saturday. I had the opportunity to listen to drafts of his talk and to suggest ideas for improvement.
Me suggesting improvements to a master in public speaking. See how things are!
In any case, on Saturday I was able to get my hands on a copy of his latest book “Imparable” (“Unstoppable”). Signed by the author 🙂
329 pages.
That’s supposed to give you at least a week. Maybe 10 days.
Well, no. In a couple of days I’ve devoured it.
No Netflix, no beach. Hardly any sleep.
I still have a lot to digest and put into practice. I probably have to read it a few more times.
And I still haven’t opened the accompanying workbook.
I’ll stick with his formula for achieving your/my professional aspirations:
Generate Value + Connect + Convince = Unstoppable.
The book is a compendium of steps, tricks and techniques to improve in each of these three pillars.
All very well accompanied by explanations and references.
But basically it is absolutely practical.
On each page there are useful things to work on.
Personally I love stories and the book is full of them.
Just to highlight a few:
- How David who went from losing business because of his shyness to answering clients with Whatsapp videos.
- Or Fermín who, when he believes in a project, practises asking for forgiveness rather than asking for permission.
- How Sebastián had an unforgettable meeting because the client called him “Santiago” over and over again, despite correcting her.
- And what’s the use of the great phrase “Moses, I’m here to sell you the internet”.
My next step: I’m going to open the workbook in the book on my desk.
It doesn’t matter if you are a businessman, entrepreneur, employee, … If you have professional aspirations, I invite you to read the book Imparable by Sebastián Lora and, above all, to put it into practice.
Deliberate practice.
You can find the book (in Spanish) here.
