Pittsford, NY
9:46 PM
I took a deep breath as I slammed the door shut of my car. It was 7:30 AM and I had already been up since 6. My brain reminded me I was not a morning person. I was in the upscale part of Rochester, Pittsford. The biggest Wegmans around started at me and up on the second floor was a conference room with my name on it.
I opened the back door and loaded up with my gear. I had my computer bag, my video camera bag, a Staples box with handouts, a cooler with my morning protein shake, my daytimer folder, my tripod, and a couple of other odds and ends. It took more than one trip. I made my way inside and up the stairs, where I was greeted by Fernan, the person who had set this talk up. I had interviewed for my project many months ago and was intrigued by his background and by how he got to his position. He is the president of the local HR group and I was preparing to address about 85 of them.
I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had prepared for this moment more than I have for any other presentation in my life, including the million dollar sales presentations. This showed me how different things are when it is you. My talk was on motivation and in this case, how companies could motivate their people. I didn’t want to reinvent the wheel with 85 experts, but my story is different than most, so I hoped they would listen.
The conference room was not set up very well for 85 people to see me. The tables were parallel to each other, which meant I was in the center, but perpendicular. A lot of people would have to turn their chairs or heads in order to see me. We eventually got a screen for the power point projector that was secured. I had to have that. The power point tied all of my talk together. I stressed around as I set up my video camera on the tripod. I set it off to the corner until show time so no one would trample it.
The always nervous task of making sure my computer talked to the power point projector went off without a hitch, they acted like they knew each other from the manufacturing lines. Step was set, we had visual.
I couldn’t do much about the seating, so we put the screen up front. The podium was in back, so I would be up in front of all of these strangers without my podium barrier. Fernan also gave me a microphone to use. I wasn’t to keen on that, but once I started, it was evident I don’t have the deep resounding voice, so I turned it on and held it close. Holding the mic almost made me break out into some Eminem, but I wasn’t sure how the audience would have liked that, so I just smiled.
The group filed in, and grabbed breakfast. I was hungry, but I didn’t want to be full and tired. They had bacon and eggs and potatoes and a few other things. I had my shake and my nerves.
After some introductions and information from others, there I was at 8:45 AM, with 85 human resource professionals staring at me, some stern, some smiling, and some yawning. I started in, telling them why I was there, to talk about motivation, and then proceeded to explain how my path took me to where I was. The time flew by. My skills are a bit raw, but I think I managed it fine.
One of the people I recognized left in the middle, but she had an out when the fire alarm went off. Yes, smack dab in the middle of my talk the fire alarm buzzed and we began to file out. After a few minutes of confusion, we settled back in. I explained how I had set that up so they could refresh themselves.
I continued my talk and noticed a girl I thought I recognized. I tried to glance at her nametag without having 85 people think I was staring at her chest. And yes, she was a girl who went to high school with me. My personal side beat out my business side and I stopped what I was doing and said, “Hey, I went to high school with you.” She was surprised. I made the bad move of saying, “Yeah, you were a year older than me.” The crowd laughed but I wasn’t trying to embarrass or be funny, I was just trying to have her place who I was. My friends and I had a crush on her when we were younger. She later said I didn’t embarrass her.
At about 9:40 a guy with a TV camera and another guy who I recognized as a TV reporter showed up. I couldn’t place where they were from, but that made me more nervous. I had no idea TV people would be there. I pressed on.
The talk went on. In the email I got confirming, it said I would be on from 8:30 to 10:30. I prepared for those two hours. It turned out I went on at 8:45, had a fire drill at 9:30, and then learned they normally end at 10:00. I scratched a breakout session I was planning on, and hurriedly tried to finish. I think next time I will slow it down or just skip some stuff, but I tried to cram as much information into as little time as possible.
Overall, I think the talk went pretty well. I got mainly 4’s and 5’s on the survey I handed out. A lot of people shook my hand and told me good job. From the audience, I could tell that most of them were into the message. I hope I didn’t tell them things they didn’t already know. I got some good personal feedback after as well.
I learned a lot. I need to get the audience to ask more questions. I spit out a ton of facts and numbers at them, but I didn’t let them ask me questions. Next time I will be better at that. I think part of that was the time crunch I felt.
But I also learned that I can stand up in front of 85 people and not be scared, but be energized by it. The fear I felt in leading up to it was not fear of speaking, but fear of not adding value to their time. I feel strong that if they were to take back a few of the things I said, their workers will be better off. And that is what my goal is, to help people enjoy coming to work. That starts with my talks to college students, but also goes into the business world. If businesses make money off of my talks, that is good. That means their workers are enjoying coming to work more, meaning they will work harder, work better, and stay with the company longer. We all want the same, people happy doing what they are doing. It is a win for the employer and a win for the employee.
And that was that. I talked with the TV guys for a few minutes and then closed up shop. I haven’t looked ay my video tape, but I am sure I will learn more about my style from that.
The book is still number 1 priority, but I can see speaking being a great augment to it once it is done.
I’m wiped out. Being on stage like that takes a lot out of you. My thanks for the chance and for the audience.