Happy Pi Day

Today we celebrate not only Pi Day (3/14) but also the Professional Speakers Celebration Day.

So firstly, for the maths nerds: Pi (π) is a mathematical constant that represents the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. It is an irrational number, meaning it cannot be expressed as a simple fraction, and its decimal representation goes on forever without repeating.

In 2022 Dr John Molidor, Past President of the Global Speakers Federation, put a proposal to the Board of the GSF to recognise and celebrate an annual day of recognition for our profession. The annual Professional Speakers Celebration Day was born and was celebrated in its first year in 2023 with astounding success, sharing insights about the speaking world, drawing new members to associations, and offering support to newer speaker associations who have not yet joined the GSF.

This stems from back in 1973 when Caveat Robert from the National Speakers Association in USA, set in motion an idea that would create opportunities for thousands of people for many years to come. Caveat invited fellow public speakers, who were beginning to be paid for their presentations, to come together and form an association of professional speakers. In response to the initial concerns that working with other speakers who were seen as competitors would dilute each speaker’s opportunities, Caveat painted a picture of not dividing a small pie into ever more tiny slices, but that in collaboration they could work to create a bigger pie.

So, it is with great honour that today we celebrate two of my favourite things: Maths and Professional Speaking. May you have an irrational number day willed with non-repeating surprises and stories to go with them.