I recently watched Free Solo for the fourth time, so obsessed am I with the limits of human achievement and our capacity to face down pressure and risk. The parallels with public speaking are obvious, and that is why I am so looking forward to welcoming to the Presentation Summit Dierdre Wolownick, the mother of Alex Honnold.
While landing Alex himself would have been incredible, when Dierdre said yes to our invitation, I began to think that this would actually be better. I’m not sure that we could relate to how unique Alex’s outlooks on life, performance, and risk must be. But a mother who had to learn to accept the danger that her son would regularly invite? That’s something that we all can relate to!
Dierdre will make her debut at the conference Wednesday morning, Oct 12. If she told me that she doesn’t want to formally present, she just wants me to ask her questions, my eyes would light up like a 10-year-old. I promise that I won’t do that to you…
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