The Log From The Sea of Cortez

I just completed a week aboard Cruise West’s Spirit of Endeavor as the onboard speaker for this Steinbeck themed cruise. This was a TOUGH gig folks because it takes so much prep to get ready to speak on any themed cruise as the theme expert.

John Steinbeck was a Nobel laureate novelist with books and movies ranging from Grapes of Wrath to East of Eden. In 1941 he jumped on a sardine boat with marine biologist friend Ed Rickets and sampled the marine wildlife in an alcoholic frolic in northern Mexico.

The reason this speaking engagement was so tough is that it was billed as a Steinbeck cruise.

There were about 80 high net worth passengers.

Speaking Tip: So the lesson here is that if you are going to tackle onboard speaking on a small ship take it really seriously. Also try to make sure that the cruise line communicates to the passengers your credentials before the cruise. Best get them to put your photo and information on the website on the days you will talk.

Small cruise speaking is not a free cruise on the first time do to the massive amount of preparation involved. It is an opportunity to really shine as an advanced speaker. It is also an opportunity to make solid connections with extremely solid people out there in the world.

If you are (1) a top speaker … not a beginner or intermediate speaker and (2) trying to expand your repertoire and (3) very charismatic and able to be very unbiased for hours and days on end than this can be a fantastic opportunity for you to progress!

Prof. Scott Brown, Ph.D.

Professor of Finance, University of Puerto Rico