How to Speak...

As I prepare for a presentation at Event Solutions Conference next week in Las Vegas, I find myself thinking about how to bring life to my usually dull topic of ROI. What is it that makes a good speaker? A great presentation? Well I received a less in that today thanks to my friends at Martin Bastian Productions, who hosted a speaker's showcase at the W Minneapolis-The Foshay. Peter Sheahan, an Australian mate - thinker and (I would say philosopher at heart) gave the most thrilling 45 minute "presentation" I have seen in a long time. And he did it on the topic of Generation Y (in the workplace, more or less).

And why was this presentation absolutely brilliant? Because he didn't tell me what I thought I knew. He didn't share conventional wisdom. Instead, I as audience member was presented with a man who simply was completely passionate (and well versed and curious and uniquely interested) in his topic, or more appropriately in the idea of having a conversation about that topic. Sure some of my favorite tricks were inside the talk in order to bridge the initial gap at the start of any presentation when the speaker alone on stage under spotlight must address an assuming audience - the sharing of personal stories, the humorous connections with appropriate self-deprecation (what a terrible word, how about self-humanization) as a vehicle in which to share one's story and provide the bit of truth which gets a group of people thinking - but not 5 minutes in, I think the room was sold. And precisely because this man was so authentic on stage (and in and amongst the crowd). The sheer power of his energy and passion to converse and facilitate the constant, silent thought generating in the minds of an audience throughout the room was fantastic to watch. He wasn't trying to be flawless or even get you to agree with him - he was fully engaged in the sharing of knowledge for the audience to self-generate the implications, realities, shift of opinions or even to shift the entire presentation based on an answer. I wasn't given a speech or a presentation. I was invited into a dialogue. And that was incredibly refreshing and I only wish I was still inside it. If this is the future of where meetings and events are headed (and it is - I honestly believe there is a way to re-envision the "meeting" to take the best of what learner generated content is on the web and merge it with the powerful thing which happens when people sit down in a room together) I am more than excited.

Peter if you find this, I want to talk more. But not right now. I have work to do before next Wednesday...