As one looks to build a portfolio of “speaking gigs” as a process of developing a business or side hustle in this space, one will be asked to comment on any number of things. Having made multiple mistakes in this arena let me lay out 5 things I will not go to any site and Speak about.
- Politics: I am not even sure I need to explain this one. I am not talking about speaking up at a meeting, public event, or community group. This is part of citizenship. However, I will not serve as a paid speaker with any group with a clear political agenda for one simple reason. If I didn’t write the position statement for the group, I am aiding and abetting something that is not really my position. This is not to say that this is bad. It’s just not something I am going to do.
- Religion: Another “no-brainer” – what I think here is none of your business, and what you think is none of mine. End of discussion.
- Data: This may sound odd coming from a Professor so let me explain. No one, and I truly mean NO ONE wants to hear me (or anyone else) talk about data. Data is a tool that can be used to develop information, and a large body of information can be mined to develop insight. The audience wants insight – not data. I have discussed many data sets at conferences and classrooms, but that is a different animal. If you have insight and want to speak about that – great. Until that time comes, let others talk about the data and try to stay awake until they finish.
- That which is better read than said. Most technical material cannot effectively be processed in real time simply based on a lecture. Lectures in a classroom almost always fail if the audience did not read the material in some form before the lecture takes place. You will often be asked to speak about something precisely because the audience doesn’t want to spend time reading what you have written. Don’t do it. Instead, speak about some experience, insight, and/or feeling generated in the process of the work done that lead to the written work. To speak about the written work directly is a waste of time in the vast majority of cases.
- What’s wrong with someone else’s position. I will tell you what I believe. I have no comment on why some other fellow “went the wrong way” or “reached the wrong conclusion.” Again, that is not my place. Many people do genuinely enjoy hearing someone they don’t like being ripped apart when they are not there to defend themselves. This is unfair, poisons the water, and kills the soul. Leave this to others.
What will I speak about – Bliss, wrapped in the cloak that fits the situation. Sometimes this will be called advice. Sometimes this will be called “investment management,” or “retirement planning.” However, in both of these cases the money is really secondary to what matters. Certainly, more people will listen when the message wears the clothing of financial well-being, but no one really wants this. What they want is never really financial. It is always emotional. The speaker’s job is to convey what really matters in the vocabulary and through stories related to the apparent topic.
