Organizations pay big money to bring in professional speakers. Some are funny, others are inspirational, many are informative.
As a speaker my aim is to provide all those things. But what matters most to me is moving people in such a way that they have meaningful conversations following the speech. Conversations that matter about their lives, their work, their businesses.
It is through conversations that we learn.
A college student came to one of my recent speeches as part of her work-study program at a Boston college’s communications department and wrote this critique. The second to last line makes me understand that the event was a success.
As for the speaker/author Lois Kelly – she was phenomenal! My grandmother is dying of cancer and my mother’s relationship directly parallels Lois’ relationship with her mother.
Lois Kelly was funny and interesting, while also respecting that she was discussing a heavy topic. She was serious when she needed to be, but followed those moments up with something positive and uplifting. I was tearing up at multiple parts of her talk, mostly because I could relate to what she was saying.
I believe that her ability to relate to and engage the audience is what made her so great. She had a funny PowerPoint to go along with her talk and add a visual aid. I left feeling comfortable and uplifted. My mother left with a new perspective.
The event sparked a 2 hour long conversation between my mother and me about everything we had experienced. I would say it was a success!
