 I fell in love with hip-hop music in the mid-80s and I'm still a devout fan four decades later. As a teenager, I was immediately hooked on the unparalleled storytelling, visceral imagery, palpable emotion, and seamless flow. It was rhythmic and poetic. It was real and raw. It was mesmerizing and meaningful. I would never imagine that 35 years later, I would continue to find massive inspiration from artists like KRS-1, Big Daddy Kane, Run DMC, NWA, and the Beastie Boys and use their innovative approaches to help me improve my craft as a corporate keynote speaker. Throw in Eminem, Jay-Z, Biggie and Tupac, and I continue to study hip-hop to this day to help me increase my vernacular and expand my vocabulary, heighten my linguistic precision, and to masterfully manipulate my tonality, tempo, and volume when I'm on stage. Hip-hop has made me a better professional speaker.