Barry Powell > Quotes

“Delivering your message with a funny or touching story end is the key to creating emotion and making a lasting impact in their hearts and minds.”
― Barry Powell, 99 Inspiring Stories for Presentations: Inspire your Audience & Get your Message Through

“Thomas Edison tried two thousand five hundred different materials in the process of searching for a filament for the light bulb. None worked satisfactorily. So his young assistant complained, “So much work for nothing. We have not learnt anything so far.” Edison replied with confidence, “Really? Haven’t we learned that there are two thousand five hundred elements which we cannot use to make a good light bulb?”
― Barry Powell, 99 Inspiring Stories for Presentations: Inspire your Audience & Get your Message Through

“Because challenge is the key to maintaining vitality of mind and body!”
― Barry Powell, 99 Inspiring Stories for Presentations: Inspire your Audience & Get your Message Through

“When you just dump information onto your audience, you are not really making an impact on their hearts and minds. But, when you start telling a story, a magic thing happens: They instantly give you their full attention.”
― Barry Powell, 99 Inspiring Stories for Presentations: Inspire your Audience & Get your Message Through

“In times of uncertainty or danger, when the net is cast, plan ahead or plan to think fast!”
― Barry Powell, 99 Inspiring Stories for Presentations: Inspire your Audience & Get your Message Through

“Your life is limited to your vision. If you want to change your life, you must change your vision of your life.”
― Barry Powell, 99 Inspiring Stories for Presentations: Inspire your Audience & Get your Message Through

“Sometimes, being optimistic is the only thing you can do in the moment.”
― Barry Powell, 99 Inspiring Stories for Presentations: Inspire your Audience & Get your Message Through

“QUALITY: The Carpenter’s House An elderly carpenter was about to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife, enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. His contractor was sorry to see his good worker go.  He asked the carpenter to build just one more house before retiring. The carpenter accepted, even though he didn’t really want to do so. His heart was not in his work anymore. He put in a half-hearted effort, taking shortcuts and using inferior building materials. The quality of the finished building was much below his usual standards. When the project finished, the contractor came to see the house. He took a look around, then he took out the front-door key and handed it to the contractor. "My friend, this house is yours. This is my gift to you as a thank you for all these years of hard work." The contractor said. The old man was shocked and embarrassed. If only he had known, things would have been done in a different way. He would have taken care of every detail and this house would be the most beautiful house that he’d ever built.  Like the old carpenter, many of us do not give the job our best effort. Then we find ourselves living in the poor quality house we have built.”
― Barry Powell, 99 Inspiring Stories for Presentations: Inspire your Audience & Get your Message Through

“If you can see it, you can be it.”
― Barry Powell, 99 Inspiring Stories for Presentations: Inspire your Audience & Get your Message Through

“Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition!”
― Barry Powell, 99 Inspiring Stories for Presentations: Inspire your Audience & Get your Message Through

“Nothing is impossible, if YOU believe you can achieve it.”
― Barry Powell, 99 Inspiring Stories for Presentations: Inspire your Audience & Get your Message Through

“A professor raised his glass of water in front of the students. “How heavy is this glass of water, you think?” he asked with a smile. The students’ answers ranged from 10 oz to 20 oz. “Okay. Now, could one of you come here and help me hold the glass?” A girl walked to her table and held the glass. After a few minutes, the girl said, “Sir, I am tired, is it ok to leave the glass on the table now?” The professor smiled, nodded yes and said to the students, “Imagine if you have to hold this glass for an hour or even a day! Would you think now that 10 or 20 oz weight too little? “No,” all students answered. “Exactly! Hold it too long and you will only hurt yourself. Always remember to put the glass down several times a day,” said the teacher. “The weight of a glass filled with water does not change, but the longer you hold it, the heavier it becomes. Our worries and stresses are like this glass of water. Think about them for a moment and nothing happens. Think about them longer and they begin to hurt. Think about them all day long and you will only feel panic making you unable to do anything else.” “Do not carry your burdens all day long, from morning to night. Remember to put your burdens down as often as you can. Remember to put the glass down!”
― Barry Powell, 99 Inspiring Stories for Presentations: Inspire your Audience & Get your Message Through

“bullshit might help you get to the top, but it won't keep you there.”
― Barry Powell, 99 Inspiring Stories for Presentations: Inspire your Audience & Get your Message Through

“Don’t be discouraged if you have bad luck today. Better opportunities are always waiting ahead.”
― Barry Powell, 99 Inspiring Stories for Presentations: Inspire your Audience & Get your Message Through

“LIMITATIONS: Don’t Believe in the Impossible A man was on vacation in Africa. One day, he watched an old African  man tying a giant elephant to a small wooden stake. The other side of the rope was tied to the front leg of the elephant.  To his great surprise, he noticed that the giant elephant waited patiently and did not attempt to move or run away, even though he was big enough to pull out the stake at  any moment. Later that day, he asked an elephant trainer how such a big elephant would not make an attempt to break free. The trainer explained, “When the elephants are very young, we use the same size rope to tie them to a small wooden stake. At their age, this stake is enough to hold them. As they grow up and get stronger, they never try to escape, as they continue to believe that that little stake will still hold them. The man was stunned. These would not try to break free because they believed it was impossible.”
― Barry Powell, 99 Inspiring Stories for Presentations: Inspire your Audience & Get your Message Through

“Don’t judge people before you know them. Their story might surprise you!”
― Barry Powell, 99 Inspiring Stories for Presentations: Inspire your Audience & Get your Message Through