Anyone who has done public speaking before and I have been lucky enough to do a few speeches in my life, will tell you the best way to connect with your audience is to speak from the heart.

Doesn’t matter what you are talking about a good speech has meaning deeper than the subject matter.

Years from know when I think about Shannon Sharpe’s Hall of Fame speech, I won’t think about football.  I will think about my grandmother, my life, my struggles, my family and my desires to be a success.

You listen to Sharpe talk and it touches you because many of us especially African-Americans can relate to that struggle.

It is a speech that one day I will play for my daughter or quote when I speak to people.  When a speech has such a powerful message, it becomes much more than a speech, it becomes a message.