This is not a summary of the NBForum 2016 so if you wish to find out more about what happened or will happen visiting the website www.nbforum.com should do the trick. Also may I add that this is my personal opinion so depending on who you ask it is very likely that my selection of top speakers may be disputed, but fortunately this blog remains one of the few things I can control in this world, so here goes...
Sense of humour
When Gary Vaynerchuck got on stage, his first question to the audience was "how many of you have heard of me before?", to which over 5000 participants replied with 'silence'. Gary's exaggerated reaction of disappointment and pretending to walk off stage was so brilliant the entire audience erupted into laughter and it is fair to say there was no more ice left to be broken. I really believe that a well thought, witty punchline right at the beginning of any speech is the best way to tell the audience 'this speech will be anything but boring'.
Moving on to Seth Godin, his sense of humor was truly masterful but I think the highlight for me was when he said, and I quote, "Cat food is not for cats, cause if so it would come in mouse flavour". At the very end of her speech, Amy Chua read an excerpt from an article her eldest daughter had written to the newspaper when Amy was getting a lot of heat from the media about her book on being a tiger mom, which was truly the most hilarious and memorable conclusion her speech could have had. Though I cannot remember the lines word for word it was something down the line of 'how Amy being a cruel and oppressive tiger mom was not true cause she would unchain the kids every Thursday for a couple of hours to play chess in the basements' (which may I add is a joke and never happened).
My point being I am in no way indicating a speech should resemble stand up comedy, for there's nothing more tacky and cringe worthy than a string of unrelated, excessive and poorly delivered humor at a professional conference. However, the ability to demonstrate wit and a great sense of humor I found was an excellent way to capture the audience and maintain their attention, as these three speakers did rather exceedingly well.
Confidence
I strongly believe it is vital for a speaker to not only know what they are talking about but also show that they know what they are talking about, which interestingly does have a distinct difference. I appreciate the world's makeup includes introverts and those who shy away from public speaking, however, considering the nature of this conference which required the participants to part with over €1000 to attend the event, it is fair to expect the panel of speakers to be, well, good speakers.
I believe confidence can be demonstrated in many forms. It may be the manner in which the audience is proactively engaged, as Gary did, directing questions towards the audience during the speech and dedicating more time for Q&A at the end. It could be through the bold visual aids used as Seth did, which included an array of slides which were simultaneously informative and hilarious. The epitome of confidence was indeed when Amy shared the criticism she had received for her book, including rather harsh excerpts published in the media, with an otherwise oblivious audience, demonstrating the vital skill of handling negative feedback in a highly constructive manner.
Most importantly from social media to creating opportunities to parenting, these speakers were on top of their game. They were well versed and sharp, and had an excellent grasp of what they were talking about. As one would hope, the idea of hiring an expert speaker is so they could shed some expert knowledge on the subject in question. That is precisely what these speakers did. They intelligently chose a key idea of few key ideas to weave their speeches around and did absolute justice without wasting everyone's time on general information a teenager can access using a smartphone during school assembly. They answered questions directly and comprehensively, which may I add the two leading contestants of the USA 2016 presidential debates could definitely learn a thing or two from.
Giving it straight
NBForum 2016 was after all a business forum with a staggering number of top notch business individuals from all over the world making up the audience. It is unlikely that such a crowd gathered to hear 'feel good speeches' or general information about today's business world. While we all need reassurance, a confidence boost and a pat on the back every now and then I for one was not there to hear someone say 'look ideally this is what should happen, but if you think you can't do it or be that for whatever reason it's alright 'cause the important thing is to try'. So it was absolutely refreshing when these speaker's came out with the reality just as it is and reminding the audience it's about rolling up your sleeves and getting on with the right kind of productive work.
Among many thoughts shared, something Gary said really stuck with me, when he took a moment to address a common accusation today's technology receives on its role in detaching people from each other. As many of us 'old school' people have thought to ourselves or said out loud at some stage, smartphones for example appear to have an 'anti-social feature', which allows individuals to prevent from socializing during social gatherings. But as Gary said, and I quote, 'Technology is not changing us but exposing who we really are'. He backed it up with the illuminating example of a couple who sits glued to their smartphone during dinner at a restaurant, was more likely to remain quiet and awkwardly staring into space if the said phones were taken away as opposed to engaging in an animated discussion. I truly appreciated the hard facts, truths and reality checks these speakers continuously presented to the audience which were not creating an atmosphere of pessimism, but rather a wake up call, show of opportunity and need for innovation.
Being relatable
It is no secret that these speaker's have reached great heights in all or most aspects of their lives. They are symbols of success, courage and confidence. Yes, we were all there to hear how they did it and more importantly learn how we can do the same or hopefully even better. In this platform of overwhelming self-worthiness, a vital move to winning the audience I realized was to simply show them a glimpse of vulnerability. For all the times superheros are worshiped for their superpowers, they draw most support during their times of vulnerability, as we realize in many way they too are humans after all, and the speaker's were not far from this.
Saying this I believe the stories of 'I came to this industry without a penny and now I'm a billionaire' are all a little too familiar. Of course in no way do I mean that these stories aren't appreciated, worthy or that there isn't a lesson to be learnt. But without spending yet another speech on a similar story which we all already know, I feel this gesture of sharing an everyday occurrence should come in a more subtle manner. For instance when Amy spoke of a parenting crisis she had, I can guarantee that every parent in that audience were nodding in agreement and complete empathy. But the golden line again for me was delivered by Gary when he said, 'the thing about immigrant parents is that they work hard and don't spend any money on buying dumb shit for the first 10 years'. He had already asked the audience if any of them had immigrant parents as he did, to which quite a few hands had gone up, and this line so brilliantly executed I believe connected all of them and extended to everyone who had the ethos of working hard and making intelligent investments.
Something new
Finally I believe as opposed to just a success story, these speakers had interesting, contemporary and revolutionary information and ideologies to share with the audience. A simple activity one could take up, a skill one could learn, a quality one could develop or a trend to look out for all presented the audience with the opportunity of applying it to their own lives, careers and businesses and becoming a better version of themselves. All three speakers were systematic in the sense they presented the idea, backed it up with success stories or foreseen advantage, discussed pros and cons and most importantly how to implement the same. These ideas weren't ludicrous that they required a couple of billions and an IQ of 162 for execution, but rather the right attitude and the willingness to take the plunge. They all presented at least one idea I could go home and implement that very night which I believe made their speeches incredibly effective and that much more accessible.
What makes a great speech and a great speaker is of course not a new topic and has been debated and discussed over the centuries famously resorting to the length of the skirt of a woman. However, I believe the devil is in fact is in the 'basics', and these 3 speaker's in my opinion truly killed it at the NBForum 2016.
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