When You Say: "Yes, I'll Say A Few Words"

There are certain obligations that go along with your agreement to say a few words at an event.

First and foremost, no matter how you feel about the microphone, you must use it. Don’t get cute about it or play like you are shy. Remember, if you’ve been asked to say a few words, someone thinks you have something important to say and the people to whom you are speaking need to hear it. Be bold. Ask the event coordinator how to use the microphone. Does it need to stay clipped in to a podium (and, if so, how close do you need to be when speaking into it?)? If you can hold it, in what position should you hold it? Should you speak into it or over it?

It also is helpful to know how many words are ‘a few.’ Typically short and sweet works better for those in the crowd. Particularly, if they are standing. Particularly if they are standing in the sun (or the rain). And, if it is an outdoor event, remember that you may end up competing with traffic noise, planes flying over head, a gaggle of birds that decide to serve as back-up for your speech. So, speak loudly, clearly and distinctly.

Thank you for your consideration on behalf of future audiences everywhere.

Take Time

A reminder from a friend that I share with you: 

“Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence. Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.”
 
― Maya Angelou, Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now

Understand Your People to Sustain Success

An approach focused on human capital management speaks volumes for soulful sustainability. Organizations reflect their leadership who influence the employees who inform stakeholders. A lack of understanding about how human competencies are fed and nourished damages those connections and cracks the chains that bind them.