Terry Winship, CEO, Mudita Concepts (Pty) Ltd
I spent many years in IT, starting out as a junior programmer and working my way up to System Analyst and IT Manager. This is where I learned how important training and people development are to the success of a company and the growth of individuals.
I worked all over the world in Europe, Africa and China, training technical staff and designing systems.
When I turned fifty I took a 'gap year' and travelled around the world as a single mom with my nine-year-old daughter for a year and a day. This was absolutely life-changing and the reason I became a public speaker.
On my return, I ran a restaurant and guesthouse in a small village with a population of 76 people. We won all sorts of hospitality awards and my creativity blossomed. It was also a steep learning curve as I had no prior experience or knowledge in this field. I sold this business as a going concern to move to Cape Town.
I am now in my third career as a Bespoke Trainer and absolutely love training, sharing knowledge and developing people.
I coach self-employed business owners, teenagers and corporates on Presentation Skills and Public Speaking. I am a TEDx coach in Cape Town.
I also offer IT training in MS Office, Canva, LinkedIn, Zoom and video editing - all essential skills for this digital world we find ourselves in.
I call myself the Speaking Genie as somewhere during the process of learning to structure a presentation, practising delivery skills, and incorporating confidence techniques, some sort of magic happens and you find your voice.
What do you like about your current role?
My guiding life philosophy and the name of my company is "Mudita"; a Buddhist term meaning 'finding joy in the happiness and success of others.’ I really get deep satisfaction from seeing people learn and grow. The IT training is pretty straightforward. I have standard workshops as well as offering bespoke training. This is offered to individuals or groups, online or in-room.
The Public Speaking training is really a journey that takes 6 to 8 weeks. It involves way more than just practical skills and often has benefits in all sorts of areas of your life. Presentation Skills training is hands-on structured training that covered all aspects of presenting from how to structure a presentation, and how to create intelligent slides to vocal variety, confidence techniques, and what tech to use.
What are your favourite books?
1. Building a story brand - Donald Miller. I found his approach to be simple and reading this gave me ideas and more clarity as to what my message actually is. The book is about transforming the way you talk about who you are, what you do, and the unique value you bring to your customers.
2. Made to Stick - Chip Heath & Dan Heath. This was an eye-opener for me and looks at why some ideas survive and others disappear. I'm using the principles in my own public speaking and teaching them in presentation skills. They build on the idea of 'stickiness' introduced by Malcolm Gladwell. The 6 characteristics of stickiness are worth spending time to understand and apply.
3. They ask, you answer - Marcus Sheridan. This really is about educating your clients so that you become a trusted voice. While I find some of the actions scary, I can see the benefit and value of transparency and sharing.
Who do you most admire and why?
Nelson Mandela. I am inspired by his incredible ability to not be bitter and to understand the mechanics of forgiveness. This is a quote that I try and live by: 'As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.’ He had every reason to be angry and revengeful but chose the higher path and demonstrated how a leader should act.
Simon Sinek. He motivates me to think and live in a different way. His saying 'Show up to give, not to get,' always resonates with me and is now one of my core values. I always build relationships and give real value first and certainly have benefited from 'givers gain'.
I recently heard a talk by Dr. Gillian Godsell called: 'Living with what is Broken. Finding joy and hope in 2022'. This isn't an easy path to follow but it is a necessary path to ensure you are not dragged down by all the negative and hostile acts in the world. It’s not about living in la-la land, it is about resilience and growth in tough times. Here is the quotation from the end of her talk: "Ringing that bell wasn’t a luxury. It was a necessity. Because hope and joy are necessary. For our brains. For our communities. For our children’s children. For developing anti-fragility."
What is the best advice you have ever received?
Under promise, and over-deliver.
What motivates or inspires you?
I totally believe in, and advocate life-long learning. I love learning and lock-down was a very productive learning time for me. Just this month I learned the ancient Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer mixed with powdered gold. As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise. I am inspired by ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
What would like to highlight and share with our audience?
Public speaking is both an art and a science. Everybody can learn to be a credible and competent presenter. This is a learnable skill and improves with practice.