“Last night, the San Diego State University Greek community had the opportunity to listen to Tony Hoffman speak on his life story. Tony articulated his experience with drug and alcohol abuse, as well as his path back to sobriety and success.
Last night was a truly life changing experience for myself, as well as many of the community members who attended. Listening to Tony speak with such raw emotion created an atmosphere that captivated all of the attendants (which is extremely difficult to achieve with college students). The opportunity to listen to Tony speak is priceless. The empathy felt through the vivid depiction of Tony’s life was overwhelming.
Without a doubt, I can say that I will never forget my experience with Tony. He is a man of character, kindness, wisdom, and empathy, and I have nothing but positive things to say about the man or his speaking ability.
I strongly recommend that if you are looking for a guest speaker to reach out for Tony’s services, you will not regret it.”
Substance abuse speeches in greek communities is something you might think is a disaster in the making. After all, we are talking about a group of students who may typically been known for "partying", even thought the greek culture on college campuses goes far beyond their ability to party hard. This year i've had the honor of speaking to a couple of greek communities and they have been anything BUT disasters. They have been some of the most rewarding and well received presentations on my touring. San Diego State was just that, well received and such a good time.
With about 300 students in attendance and a evening presentation set, I was excited to tell my story to them. It was clear that right as I began speaking, they realized they were not going to get lectured about drugs, students really appreciate that. Substance abuse speakers has such a negative stigma that comes with it with school students because for the most part the speakers schools brought to them through their schooling have been lectures about how bad drugs are. I am not denying that drugs are bad but my presentation style is real life, it's not statistics or scare tactics. I tell a story, other speakers talk about stats and facts that are not what modern students want to hear!
I'd like to really thank Theta Chi for making my presentation possible, inviting me to the dwelling and making me feel right at home! It was an experience I won't forget because everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy my story, so thank you!