How to Effectively Use Communication Skills for a Good Cause

Last August, Magda went to the Emergency Room. Her doctors in Tepic, Mexico, told her she was having kidney failure. One of her kidneys had shut down, and the other one was not doing well. Before long, both of her kidneys had failed.

Magda is 27 with two small boys and a kind, hard-working husband. Since she got the news last summer, she has been taking the bus an hour to Puerto Vallarta for hemodialysis three times a week, for three hours each visit.
 
The problem with hemodialysis is that it’s not a permanent solution. Lucky for her, she had three possible donors. But the total cost was going to be over 400,000 pesos, or $21,000 USD. The surgeon, I should point out, offered to donate his services, reducing the cost by 30%.

Still, for a family trying to survive week by week, this was an unthinkable amount. Then something remarkable happened. A woman named Carolyn, who lives in the same town, heard about Magda’s plight and decided to help.

Being an artist and knowing lots of other talented and generous artists, she decided to do an art auction. She found a venue willing to donate a gorgeous space. She got 19 works of art from 15 artists. People donated appetizers and wine and a sound system. A world-renowned violinist volunteered to play for the crowd. Someone heard that I know how to use a microphone, so they asked me to be the auctioneer (that has somehow become my calling in this small pueblo where we live half the year).

Magda came straight from hemodialysis, bandage still on her shoulder, to the event. Her family was there, along with about 60 people from the two closest towns. People bought tickets, then they bid on the art.
 
The auction itself wasn’t easy. Not being an art person (my wife is quick to point out that I “know nothing about art”), it was a bit of a stretch for me. I studied each piece before the event and talked to all the artists who were there. We went over what we thought each piece was “worth” and where to start the bidding on each.
 
By the end of the evening, every piece had been bought, and we had raised almost enough money for Magda to have the surgery.
 
For me, the experience was a lesson in the power of a community coming together, and in how one person can spearhead an event this big and this important.
 
As a speaker, I learned a lot about communication skills in presentation as well. I did as much prep as I could, but when the time came, I had to wing it. I paid attention to the audience. I did the best I could with bad room acoustics. I made people laugh when I could (usually at my own expense). And I remembered that this wasn’t about me, so there was no reason to be anxious.
 
For all of you presenters reading this, I would encourage you to jump on any opportunities you get to speak. We all want to get better at presenting, and the only way to get better in communication skills in presentation is by doing. Even if you don’t have enough time to prepare, or you’re anxious about how it will turn out. Just do it.
 
Thanks to all of the generous people, Magda has been given a new life. And thanks to all of you for reading, and for the good work that you all do every day.

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