Category: people

The trick with guest speakers is finding the right angle. Working out what makes them tick. Where their true passions lie. Then work out if there is a talk there, something worth speaking about.

I’ve sat through some dull talks in my time. Delivered in a dry monotonous voice where even the speaker is at risk of falling asleep, reading from a well rehearsed script with overloaded dull slides. Nothing to grip you or to keep you in the present and out of the land of nod.

I’ve had to source speakers for events. Suggestions from friends and colleagues and the internet are useful. Most of the good speakers either cost too much or they just repeat talks they’re given many times before, and to be honest, you can probably watch for free on YouTube.

The trick is to find a new angle, a variation of the subject they are experts in. Maybe you heard about an experience they had or how they solved a particular problem. Maybe you heard about their hobbies and interests and how a particular subject complements them. Talk to them, research them, find out what makes them tick, what makes the fire behind their eyes light up. What are they passionate about? Now see if there’s a talk there, even a small one.

You want to entertain your audience, inform them, and stimulate those neurons. Find the right angle and help your speakers deliver amazing talks.

You can tell a lot about a person from how their garden looks. If it looks unkempt, neglected, with weeds growing everywhere, it can be a sign of how they treat or view themself.

Discarded objects and general untidiness may indicate an untidy mind. Long grass, overgrown shrubs, and weeds between paving stones, could be a sign of laziness. Whereas a neatly trimmed lawn, tidy borders, and containers and hanging baskets all colour coordinated and in their place could be a sign of an organised mind, or someone with a lot of time on their hands.

You can tell a lot about a person from how their garden looks.

Some say that it can be good therapy to have conversations with those that are no longer with us. Working out your problems talking to someone who is not there, keeping the gone close in your mind.

Or are we slightly mad to talk to someone that isn’t there? Talking to ourselves. Even if you wear headphones or hold a phone to your ear that isn’t active to disguise the madness. Are we mad?

If it helps you then I say no. You may work out problems, recall something you needed to remember, or bring some form of inner peace within yourself. After all it’s just talking. We talk all the time. To others, to electronics, to animals. What’s the harm in talking to someone that isn’t there any more?

If it helps.