A new direction in life as a Motivational Speaker

Paul Hopfensperger - Motivational Speaker

On March 8th, 2013 my dear mum Vera passed away following a massive stroke a year earlier. She was the reason for me starting swimming at a very early age and I will always be eternally grateful to her for giving me a lifelong interest which has given me so much enjoyment, enabled me to meet so many wonderful people, travel to so many places and now, to allow me to tell people about my journey as part of a new direction in my life. 

Due to work, family and political commitments over the past few years, I haven't been able to commit any decent time to swimming, so I thought I would concentrate on helping inspire others to start on their journey to successful accomplishment of their goals. I have therefore launched a new website as a joint venture for my work as an Independent local councillor, and as a motivational speaker. It is in the early stages of development, so please check on it regularly for updates.

If you are starting out on your journey to swim The English Channel, or starting out on the journey to achieving any other goal, this ancient Korean quote helped me succeed. I hope it does the same for you:-

"No matter how high the mountain is, it can be compared to a small tomb under the heaven. So if a man attempted to climb it, there would be no reason why he can't succeed. But very often one claims the mountain is too high without even attempting to climb it."

www.PaulHopfensperger.com

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Motivational talk for members of the USAF 100th Maintenance Squadron, RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk.

On Wednesday June 16, 2010, I was invited by Lt. Col Ralph Watson, Commander of the 100th Maintenance Squadron at RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, to give my Channel Swim talk to members of the squadron to help motivate them and explain goal setting. To do this, I spent most of Tuesday, chopping it down and removing PowerPoint slides to make it about 25 minutes instead of the usual 50 minutes to fit in with their schedule. I e-mailed it across to MSgt James Duncan on Tuesday evening so that they could install it on the PC ready for the 7.30am talk on Wednesday morning.

On Wednesday morning, I set the alarm for 5.30am, got ready, and headed for RAF Mildenhall, some 15 miles away, ready to meet with MSgt James Duncan at 7.00am to ensure everything was ready. When we got into the presentation area, I estimated that there were well over 100 US Airmen and women stood to attention, waiting for the commander to enter the room. Just before the start, MSgt James Duncan informed me that they could not load the PowerPoint presentation due to the PC's being upgraded as we spoke. I said, not to worry, we could re-schedule the talk. I sat down in the audience and listened to the commander give his talk, totally relaxed, switched off and not even thinking about my talk.

Above: Msgt James Duncan outside the offices and work area of the 100th Maintenance Squadron.

As he spoke, he started talking about motivation, goal setting etc. and I started to worry. Did he know the PowerPoint presentation wasn't working I wondered? Then I heard "...and so now I'd like to welcome up Paul Hopfensperger who is going to give a talk on goal setting and motivation, and explain what he has achieved in swimming. Paul, please come up and give your talk". I was busy shaking my head saying "No, No", but to no avail! They all applauded, and before I knew it, I was up at the front with over 100 faces eagerly staring at me waiting to hear my talk! Quick thinking was required.

Using NLP visualisation techniques, I did the only thing I could think of, I visualised my PowerPoint presentation in my head, slide by slide and did my talk on the fly. I really got into it, and in fact it may have been better without the slides than with them. I was totally associated into the channel swim. I could see Beccy on the pilot boat, I could feel the water on my body as if it were only yesterday. I will ask for some feedback this week to see what they thought, although they all seemed to enjoy it. At the end, they all applauded, asked questions, and before they went to work, some of the more senior officers had a photo taken with me at the front of the room.

Above right: Me, centre with Lt Col Ralph Watson and six members of his squadron after the talk.

Thank you to Lt Col Ralph Watson for inviting me to speak, and perhaps we could do it again sometime, this time with the PowerPoint presentation and the accompanying photos.

Fundraising talk for St. Nicholas Hospice at Bury St Edmunds 'Probus 3' Club

As part of my fundraising for my 2010 swim of 'The Wash' in aid of St Nicholas Hospice, I was invited by Maurice Buxton, Programme Secretary of the PROBUS 3 Club in Bury St Edmunds to give my talk "Life is a Channel Swim - Setting and Achieving Goals" today. They meet on Thursday's at 'The Friends Meeting House', and having got out of the pool last night after only 59 minutes and 3,000 Metres to go through my presentation, I set off this morning for the 5 minute walk from my home to give my talk.

There were about 55 retired businessmen in the room, and I was pleased that they seemed to listen so intently, as I described my 40 year journey from completing my first width of a swimming pool in 1967 and coming last in the process, to completing my first Channel Swim in 2007, all by setting and completing small goals until I completed the big one at the first attempt.

At the end of the presentation, I was delighted that they put £63.19 into my St.Nicholas Hospice bucket which will be given to them via my JustGiving page tomorrow.

If anyone is interested in the talk, which lasts about an hour, please click on the link below for further details:-

"Life is a Channel Swim - Setting and Achieving Goals".

"Life is a Channel Swim - Setting and Achieving your Goals" - A motivational presentation by Paul Hopfensperger, English Channel Swimmer 2007 & 2008

Since my first channel swim on July 10, 2007 I have been asked on several occasions to give talks to organisations about the swim. In return, they have very kindly donated money to my two channel swim charities CLIC Sargent, the UK's largest children's cancer charity, and St Nicholas' Hospice in Bury St Edmunds who I recently found out, need to raise a staggering £10,000 per day just to survive!

Due to this, I have now prepared a more comprehensive and motivational talk for anyone who may be interested which explains, using NLP techniques, how life is like a channel swim. It needs to be well planned, starting with a well defined outcome or goal, and we need to develop the skills and have the discipline to achieve those goals.

Above: Paul talks to 45 members of the Bury St Edmunds Probus Club on Tuesday March 24, 2009.

Wherever you may live, if you would like me to share my talk and explain how I swam the English Channel not just once, but twice, please feel free to contact me by e-mail to motivation@bodyandmindstudio.co.uk or visit the web page by <clicking here>.

TESTAMONIALS

“Paul’s talk to our club was fascinating. He is a gifted speaker, easy to listen to and has a keen sense of humour. It was one of the most interesting talks we have ever had”.
David Hughes, Chairman, Tuesday Probus Club, Bury St Edmunds.

“Paul’s presentation to our club was received with great enthusiasm and is an example of what can be achieved if you put your mind to it”.
Ernie Broom, Chairman, Howard Estate Over 60’s Club, Bury St Edmunds.

“Paul’s talk was thoroughly enjoyed by all members of our club. It made us realise what an extremely physical and mental achievement it was to swim the channel, and he did it to raise money for people less fortunate than himself”.
Arthur Smith, Chairman, Mildenhall Road Estate Over 60’s Club, Bury St Edmunds.