An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Good knowledge of the material, personal interest in the topic, eye and voice contact with the listener, creative visualization of your speech, and a little humour.
At some point in our lives, many of us will have to give a talk to a large group of people. What does it take to be a highly effective public speaker? How can you improve your public speaking skills? How can you overcome a fear of speaking in public? What does it take to give a very interesting and engaging public talk? In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker” we are talking to successful and effective public speakers to share insights and stories from their experience. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Iryna Kidyba.
Iryna Kidyba is a financial specialist at Simple. She graduated from Kyiv National Economic University in 2015 with a master’s degree in financial markets. After that, Ira worked in several international companies, where she gained practical experience in stock market trading. She also has risk management skills in a big European Forex broker. Now Iryna heads the dealing department at Simple. She wants to share her experience with you.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
Sure. I became interested in the fascinating financial world already in middle school. That’s why after graduating from school I went to study at Kyiv National Economic University. There I had 5 interesting years of immersion in economic theories. After graduating with a red diploma, I went to gain practical experience in well-known international companies. The first years of work were quite difficult. But thanks to my efforts and fruitful work, I have achieved significant results over these 7 years.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
My father. He is a lecturer in economics at Kyiv National University of Economics. It so happened that my dreams coincided with his. He prepared me for this since childhood, and I was a very diligent student. I was very lucky with my father.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
The most interesting was 2017 when the first mass hype of cryptocurrency took place. People were selling apartments and taking big loans just to buy Bitcoin. We turned down many customers and saved their money because in 2018 Bitcoin collapsed from $20,000 to $3,000. Instead, we advised them to buy Tesla stocks, which showed significant growth in 2019.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I traded the Turkish lira against the US dollar during political tensions between the authorities of the two countries in 2016. As a result, the lira fell sharply, and I lost a lot of company money. After that, I never traded again during political turmoil.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
In addition to my dad, my first boss, Victor, also helped me a lot. He was a very sensitive mentor and always accompanied me on difficult tasks. I inherited invaluable experience from him and then reached current heights thanks to this. Thanks a lot to him
You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging and intimidating. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?
Everyone has failures, and I also had them. This is a necessary part of success. Do not be afraid of mistakes, the main thing is to be assertive and get up after each fall. This is the only way to gain experience.
What drives you to get up everyday and give your talks? What is the main empowering message that you aim to share with the world?
I want to show by my example that anything is possible. Everyone can achieve their goals with proper perseverance. My story is nothing special, there are millions of such stories. But they still need to be told to new young people who are just coming to life and starting their way into the world.
You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?
We are currently working in two innovative areas. These are DeFi and NFT. Decentralized finance is the future of our outdated economic system. Centralized banks will be a thing of the past. Also, in 5 years, we will keep all our documents as property rights or driver’s licenses in the form of NFT.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Never say never”. No one could have imagined that Russia would start a full-scale war with Ukraine and our lives would change once and for all after February 24, 2022. The so-called Black Swan can always happen with the ensuing consequences. Plan B must always be prepared.
Ok, thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker?” Please share a story or example for each.
Good knowledge of the material, personal interest in the topic, eye and voice contact with the listener, creative visualization of your speech, and a little humour.
As you know, many people are terrified of speaking in public. Can you give some of your advice about how to overcome this fear?
Speak first in front of a mirror, then in front of relatives or friends. Then you can try to perform in front of strangers on the street. Also, record yourself on video and analyse afterward. Everything comes with practice and experience.
You are a person of huge influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Now I am interested in eco-activism and garbage sorting. This topic has become fashionable in Ukraine last years and is very common in Western Europe. But the United States and China still do not sort, despite the fact that they are the largest producers of garbage in the world. I want to convey the importance of this process to their residents.
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
I would like to have lunch with the president of Ukraine — Vladimir Zelensky, as he is my idol.
Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?
https://www.facebook.com/Simpleinvest-104523255489895
This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
Iryna Kidyba Of Simple On The 5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
