When Joe Ehrmann speaks, people listen.

A crowd of about 40 attended "An Evening with Joe Ehrmann" Wednesday at Palmerton Area High School.The free motivational speech to spur students to believe in themselves was sponsored by the Bo Tkach Foundation.Jim Tkach, of the foundation, thanked the audience for attending the event.Tkach then gave a sneak-peek as to what makes Ehrmann, a former pro-football player, the successful person that he is."He's about understanding ourselves," Tkach said. "He's about love."Ehrmann spoke of his revolutionary concepts of transformational leadership, coaching, team-building, and mentoring, from his newly released book, "InSideOut Coaching: How Sports Can Transform Lives."He said that even after all these years, we still live in a world filled with racism and sexism."You move forward and become what you believe of yourself," Ehrmann said. "Your greatest challenge in life is you've got to define yourself."Ehrmann said the three scariest words a male has ever heard is to "Be a man."He cited three myths of masculinity: That being a man has something to do with masculinity, sexual conquests and economic success.A lot of men suffer from what Ehrmann referred to as alexithymia, an inability to put emotions and feelings into words.In this cycle, Ehrmann said this type of socialization leads to social mandates, which can lead to alexithymia, covert depression, isolation, substance abuse and/or violence.Ehrmann said that femininity is another issue, and the idea that woman are supposed to live their lives by three social mandates: The myth about Prince Charming, that value is dependent on beauty and body size, and to abandon their authentic self.In this cycle, this type of socialization and social mandates can lead to a sense of inadequacy, self-abandonment, depression, eating disorders, and substance/self abuse.Two criteriaEhrmann said people who are dying care most about relationships and cause.With regard to relationships, Ehrmann said we care about loving others, and to be loved."All of us got to learn it's the heart where all value comes from," he said.As for cause, Ehrmann said it's all about making your world a better place."At the end of our life, all of us are going to want to make our own legacy," he said.Ehrmann was an All-American football player at Syracuse University, and was named to SU's All-Century Football Team.Originally drafted as the 10th pick in the first round of the 1973 NFL Draft out of Syracuse University to the Baltimore Colts, Ehrmann played professional football for 13 years.During and following his football career, Ehrmann attended Dallas Theological Seminary and Westminster Theological Seminary, and was ordained in 1985.