First published 3 June 2019 on Your Best Year Starts Here with Nigel Risner.
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I sprang this one on Nigel without warning. Last October I was MC at an event he spoke at, and on stage he said something like, if you want my support, ask. So once I'd brought the next speaker on, I snuck out the side and asked. That chat with Nigel and Alison, his PA, is part of how this podcast started. He couldn't remember a word of it. He did remember I was a good MC though, so I'll take that.
Then I asked what he'd tell someone sat in an audience thinking, I want to be up there. Start with what you actually want to talk about, and whether anyone would pay to hear it. Almost any subject has an audience. He once spoke in Dubai at a four-day conference on sludge and oil removal from the ocean. Four days. And practise somewhere you'll get honest feedback, like Rotary or a Chamber of Commerce, because your family will tell you it's brilliant whatever you say.
Nigel's PADDLE idea came out of a long stretch where he had nothing to do but think. Passion for winning, always do the right thing, delight the customers, develop and challenge the team, love your people, embrace change. His point is that a talk needs something like that to hang off. He's also got fit, fee or flee for deciding which gigs to take. If neither the fit nor the fee is right, walk away. And watch out for anyone telling you it'll be good exposure, because exposure has never paid a mortgage.
I chucked in a couple of my own. Early on I stopped waiting to be booked and ran my own events, some of them four or five days long, which forces you to build up loads of material. The hardest talk I've done was TEDx, where they gave me three minutes. I'd just finished a manuscript of close to 40,000 words and had to get the message down to three minutes. Nigel said less is more. I said less takes more prep.
Last bit. Making videos or starting a podcast is a cheap way to test material and see what gets a reaction. I said there's probably a keynote in what we've covered on this show, and made a point of saying it wasn't a plug. Nigel just kept saying "He is."
My notes from this one
- Work out what you want to talk about first, then check someone would pay to hear it.
- Practise on people who'll be honest with you. Rotary, Chambers of Commerce, Toastmasters. Family will just say it was great.
- Fit, fee or flee. If neither the fit nor the fee is right, don't do it for the exposure.
- Getting a talk down to three minutes takes more prep than talking for an hour.
- Videos and podcasts are a good place to try material and see what people respond to.
If you want my support, ask, and if you don't want my support, don't ask.
Nigel Risner
Exposure has never paid any mortgage.
Nigel Risner
