In his new book, Love, Laughter and a Life Well Spoken, Arnie Witkin has gathered together 26 of the speeches that he has made over the years,
covering:

Part I: Milestone Moments
Weddings, wedding anniversaries and funeral orations

Part II: Friendships
A tribute and birthday celebrations

Part III: The Next Generation
Batmitzvahs and barmitzvahs

Part IV: Reflections
From 1992 to 2020

Guidelines For Speakers
Included

A consummate storyteller, Arnie has always enjoyed public speaking.
From his first speech, written at the age of 13 (foregoing any help from his father) and delivered at his barmitzvah, the die was cast. He went on to study public speaking, subscribed to the magazine “Vital Speeches of the Day’, contemplated the great speeches, and found himself in awe of the speechwriters.

From major national and international investment events to weddings, birthdays and special occasions, Arnie researched and rehearsed every speech meticulously, his motto being “The messenger must be eloquent, but the focus must be on the content”. Commenting on his speaking accomplishments, he says, “I think that part of my success as a public speaker was  that the audience could see I was enjoying myself immensely.”

Immerse yourself in the speeches and events in this book. Be entertained by the content, appreciate the people that Arnie speaks about or, in some cases, just enjoy the humour.

In his first book, It’s Not a Big Thing in Life, Arnie Witkin asks you to consider what actions you should take in handling life’s troubles and triumphs.

The 65 topics covered include:

• Principles of success
• Love and relationships
• Sex
• Work and money
• Facing difficult challenges and decisions
• Taking responsibility for yourself
• Humour as a coping strategy
• Public speaking guidelines
• Coping with illness
• The power of vulnerability
• Self-compassion
• How to deal with sexting, cyber bullies, pornography, racism, drugs, anger, jealousy, envy, gambling, trust, etc.

It’s all about your big things in life and your less big things in life and the energy that you assign to each.

Arnie was a successful investment manager and a pioneer in the private equity industry in South Africa. Since retiring from active business, he has been a speechwriter, public speaking coach, executive coach and mentor. His path was far from smooth. After emigrating in 1989, he found himself out of work for three years, living off dwindling capital. Calling on all his inner strength and resilience, he started again at age 50 and once again reached the top of the tree.

Possibly the greatest challenges he faced were being diagnosed with advanced thyroid cancer in 2001, which has metastasised to his lungs, and prostate cancer in 2009. He has developed strategies for coping and living a full life, which are all detailed in the book. He still plays golf three times a week, so everything must be OK

As an awkward teenager, he was quite obese with all the angst this can create. As a result, he understands anxiety that shy people can have about sex, inclusion, envy, jealousy, power and ambivalence about what to do with their lives.

He has been married for fifty years, has two sons and six grandchildren. His eldest grandchild said, ‘Grandpa, I think that you understand everything. ‘