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Featured Article: FRESH EVIDENCE
Introduction
As I discussed earlier, being an expert who speaks professionally is about
--- Freshness,
--- Novelty,
--- Originality, and
--- Boldness
In this issue, I will explore "freshness" and fresh evidence.
Successful
expert speakers are continually uncovering and delivering fresh
evidence. They are not delivering the same old material, but are always
bringing in the new stuff. Doing this not only keeps them in demand, it
fuels the passion that drives their career.
How to Keep Your Evidence Fresh
Dan Burrus is an extreme example of someone seeking fresh evidence. Dan does it non-stop, continually.
To
do this, Dan developed a new taxonomy (a classification into groups or
categories, see http://www.burrus.com/spkpredictions.html)
Dan said:
"I
organized. I took complexity and organized it. Here's what I did, I
simplified complexity and gave it power. Now that was a break through
methodology. It had not been done before and I used that then, as a
centerpiece of all the work I've done since because I continued to
refine on that classification system, which is held up to this day."
By
developing that taxonomy, by organizing the complexity, Dan squeezed
out the fresh evidence. This required that he do the work that no one
else was willing to do.
In my interview, Dan spoke about taking that time:
"I
spent a year doing nothing but research. See, that's unique, I don't
know anyone else that did that in the speaking industry, that I'm aware
of."
Through his taxonomy, Dan build a foundation that would
continually provide fresh evidence each new year. It wasn't about doing
it once, it was about building a foundation and then doing it
continually, each and every year, always gathering fresh evidence.
My Experience
At
my age I'm just as passionate about what I do as the day I started. I
am constantly looking, constantly researching. My curiosity button is
constantly being pushed.
While Dan used a taxonomy to help his
research, I use personal interviews. I talk with people till I am blue
in the face. I talk with my clients in my one-on-one sessions and I
talk with business leaders on the phone. I am always looking for fresh
evidence on my expertise: what will impact speakers and their message
and drive their career.
How It Relates to the Industry
First,
fresh evidence is critical. When I listen to speakers I sometimes feel
that I've heard it all before and that if I hear the same old stuff one
more time, I feel like I going to puke. Audiences need the freshness.
When it becomes common language, audiences do not hear you.
When I talked to Richard Weylman about experts, he said:
".
. . we are going to stand and deliver a cutting edge new idea, its
going to be fresh, we're not going to exaggerate, we're not going to
posture, we're not going to conceal, we're going to stand and deliver."
Second,
fresh evidence feeds your passion. Dan Burrus couldn't continually seek
fresh evidence if the topic didn't relate to his passion. And his
continual research feeds his passion. My continual research feeds my
passion. You need fresh evidence to feed your passion.
Why This Is Important to You
When
I began talking with speakers about the need for fresh evidence, I
didn't know the buttons I would hit. Not only do audiences get bored,
even speakers get bored with their own material.
One speaker said:
"I
remember being on a stage . . . giving my motivational presentation,
telling the same story for the thousandth time and I thought, I am
bored here. I am so bored with my own speech . . . . I simply can't do
this anymore."
Speakers are telling me that they are losing
their passion. And as I speak with speakers, one key factor is the lack
of fresh ideas. If you are a motivational speaker one of the challenges
is to deliver the truths that do not change, but to deliver them in new
ways, with new angles and a new lens to help audiences see.
As Joe Calloway said:
"I
had tremendous admiration for those speakers who that can take basic
principles about attitude and values and motivation and keep those
fresh."
Juanell's Simple But Profound Statement
You cannot sustain your passion, unless you feed it with fresh evidence.