The Short Self Promotion
Business Speech

by Bob Lewis

This section of the website was inspired by a success story.

Patricia Ann Bath is a San Antonio, Texas attorney who suddenly faced not only a career challenge, but a life challenge when she was diagnosed with cancer some years ago. She eventually beat her disease, but the fight cost her the law practice she had built up in the previous decade. After a three year battle, she found herself in her 40’s and trying to start her legal career all over again.

She tells the story herself in the interview that follows, which has been transcribed with permission, by former San Antonio TV anchor and radio talk show host George McKenzie.

Transcriptions like this can be hard to follow because conversations sometimes bounce from one topic to another and back again, with some occasional digressions. Even though George’s interview followed a logical outline, both interviewer and interviewee departed from it at times to cover related points and ideas.

So, again with George’s permission, I’ve edited some of the transcription in order to group relevant ideas together for the convenience of the reader. Those who listen to the actual MP3 recording of the interview will notice that the structure of the interview has changed, but the words, ideas and concepts remain.

The interview has been edited with chapter headings and subheadings to make the material easier for the reader to follow. This also helps those who are scanning through the text looking for specific information or an answer to a particular question.

Some comments have been added in italics to help clarify certain point, and occasionally sentence structure has been rearranged for the sake of clarity. The same sentence that makes perfect sense in conversation can appear awkward and disjointed on paper. So this is not an exact transcription.

The interview was originally included in Mr. McKenzie’s Mastermind Learning Series, which focused on helping business owners, entrepreneurs and professionals get publicity through public speaking and attracting attention in the mass media.

Patricia Ann Bath used public speaking with remarkable success. The short, self-promotional business speeches she made to lunch groups and civic organizations helped rebuild her career and grow her law practice many times over.

And as she mentions during her interview, she got a lot of free meals along the way too.

Bob Lewis
Editor

Next page: What is a Short Self-Promotion Business Speech?

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