At Insight Rising, one of our core beliefs about how to improve sustainability is that improvement only comes through changing the way people think. We recently changed our thinking about how to speak to people regarding the subject, and the change in perspective should lead to more easily helping people understand how improving sustainability will benefit their businesses and personal lives.
Insight Rising offers speaker services and training programs in addition to sustainability consulting services. To deepen speaking skills we joined the National Speaker’s Association (NSA) Academy last winter and our founder, Bob McNeice, developed new speeches and programs based on the excellent resources provided to academy members. Because one never knows how an audience or an individual client will receive a speech until it has been presented to an audience, Bob started making presentations.
Jeff Tobe, a Pittsburgh, PA based Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) and President of Infinite Speakers Agency is coaching Bob on how to move into the exciting world of professional speakers. Jeff attended a couple of Bob’s presentations and his input has been invaluable. His most recent insights were truly revolutionary for Bob and they changed his thinking about presentations.
Over many years we have made countless corporate presentations within our companies, to industry groups, to the management teams of prospective customers, and to special interest groups. We were trained to make corporate style presentations for covering a lot of information in a manner that sold both personal and company credibility. In essence, we were speaking as the “Company”.
The corporate presentation style imparts knowledge and covers the required amount of detailed and often technical content within an allotted time. When Insight Rising entered the sustainability arena we attended public appearances of many of the thought leaders of the emerging field and modeled our presentations on these “knowledge imparters”.
Jeff Tobe was recently in the audience for a short talk Bob delivered to a group of business people. We developed the talk for routine presentation to lunch meetings of civic clubs and business groups.
When Jeff and Bob had a private casual conversation after the talk Bob asked for Jeff’s comments about the presentation (notice use of the word “presentation”). Jeff had comments regarding the amount of content crammed into the talk and then sat back and looked at Bob like he was thinking about how to tell him that he needed to consider a different career. His statement was very simple. He said “I made the note that you seemed “professorial”.
Jeff opened Bob’s eyes to the fact that he is now making professional speeches and engaging with an audience instead of giving presentations. This is an elementary but crucial distinction. This new awareness lifted a burden that we have been carrying since our inception. We now have a different viewpoint about how to think about speaking. Jeff enabled us to realize the importance of making a connection with an audience in order to have them think about their own beliefs regarding sustainability and their role in creating a more sustainable world.
Jeff’s comment caused Bob to suddenly “get” what he had already heard numerous times! Bob knows that he knows his topic and, he has the business and life experience and expertise to know how to relate sustainability to the real world. All he has to do is be authentic and connect with another person to help them gain a new understanding.
Almost professional speakers coach new entrants to the field that the most effective speaking is to make a make a personal connection with one person in the audience. They also encourage sharing personal stories and experiences in order to make that connection and to illustrate points in an authentic manner
Thanks to this revelation, we’ll save our “presentations” for teaching events when a “professor” needs to be in front of the class. In the meantime, we look forward to speaking from our authentic selves to engage, inform, and possibly even entertain an audience.
We hope you and Insight Rising have the opportunity to engage about sustainability soon. We need to work together quickly to change the way people think about a sustainable environment, economy, and equitable enterprise.
Please connect with us on this important mission.
