BYP Event

I spent an evening with the members of BYP (Boise Young Professionals). They had a guest speaker come in to talk about success. Throughout his speech he gave many stories and equations of what to do and what not to do. He was an older gentleman so he had an endearing demeanor to him, and he spoke kindly. From the start of his speech I was engaged.

What I found most useful out of his presentation was the way he told stories to get his point across. It reminded me of TrainSmart. When he made a point he gave an example through a real life experience of his, most of which were quite humorous.

Throughout his presentation he grounded most of his thoughts and explanations through experience. I think this is great in essence because he has lived through it and has come out the other side of life. However, I still found it lacking. I don't know if it's because I'm in academics right now, and so I am more prone to research or scholarly debate on any given subject, or if his presentation was truly lacking because of limited research. Either way I felt as though that part could have been improved upon.

Thinking broadly, as well as context of how I am going to take this experience into my training, teachings and speaking opportunities, I am now realizing how there must be a balance between experience and expertise as well as research and academics. I think the best instructors and speakers are the ones who can cover both, and do it in a way that strikes the audience. I want to be like that. I want to give fun reasons, stories, equations and so on to illustrate my point, and probably most of these will come from my real life experiences. But I also want the credible and academic side to be highlighted. It seems as though when research can back up what you're saying you have more to say.

My challenge to myself - find an equal balance between research and experience.