Written by Dina Bair | WGN News Friday, 30 July 2010 12:44

Listening to silence and hearing a powerful message. Your voice doesn't have to work to get your point across. Just watch closely.

Without saying a word Anne Marie Schlekeway makes people stand up. Clap.

Although she can't talk, she has others talking. Telling each other their best qualities.

Jamie Weil, Speech Participant: "It was very inspiring. It made you reflect on everything from things going on in my personal life to my job to the energy I put out there and how that kind of effects what happens in your life."

The power point speaks for Anne Marie where she can't. ALS or Lou Gherig's disease impacted her tongue muscle first. She says it can't take away her voice.

Aeron Lancero, Speech Participant: "Words are powerful but being at this one was very encouraging, very enlightening."

Anne Marie inspires others with her speechless speech. With each appearance she motivates entrepenueurs and those with chronic health conditions.

Kris Gibbons, Speech Participant: "I was really moved by what it was about."

The funds from the appearances go toward ALS research, the quest for a cure for the disease.

The Muscular Dystrophy Association has selected Anne Marie Schlekeway of Chicago to be profiled in its national campaign promoting awareness of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease), a devastating neuromuscular disorder affecting tens of thousands of Americans.

Schlekeway is one of 31 extraordinary individuals featured in the MDA online series "ALS: Anyone's Life Story." People featured in the series talk about what it's like to live with ALS, and how they've learned to adapt to the deadly, progressively paralyzing condition.

Schlekeway, 33, learned she had ALS in March 2009.