Herb True PhD from Notre Dame was my mentor. One time he walked onstage at a huge convention with a pistol and fired blanks several times in the air and he said, “Nobody sleeps during my session.” I would guess that Herb did about four thousand live presentations in his life time and nobody ever slept. Today I would not recommend the pistol routine but I certainly hope that you realize that flashing a dull power point slide on he wall won’t do the job for you.
I have juggled balls, bounced them off the walls, sung way off key, ran up and down the aisles, and tap danced on sixty five plus year old legs across this nation just to get my message across in a manner that would stick to the minds of my listeners. I’ve shared the horrors of combat, the sorrow of my wife dying of cancer and the dread of handling a triple amputation case but whatever I did I did for one reason. I wanted to get everyone in every organization I visited not just interested in safety but in the their own safety and that of every fellow worker. I won the commitments that have often lasted a lifetime.
So stick your neck out when you are presenting. Show them you care. Do what it takes to get your message across in a way that they will act on and remember.
If you work in safety then I truly hope that you have that same kind of a goal. To me, Safety is not like any other job in the world. To work in the safety field you must become truly passionate about your mission to prevent injuries. If you do not feel that passion and if you cannot maintain that passion then I truly believe that you should step aside and seek a different occupation.
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