Unusual Speaking Experiences

A World of Unusual Speaking Experiences!

In the course of speaking to more than 770 audiences around the world, I have encountered my share of unique engagements. For example, when I spoke to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, a division of the U.S. Treasury Department, every audience member was carrying a gun. Understandably, I felt compelled to give a great presentation.

At a leadership conference sponsored by the St. Alfonsus Regional Medical Center, I was introduced by a staff member, wearing skis, whose conclusion involved sliding down the stairs off the podium.

How It Felt, How it Ended

Nobel-prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman has shown that recollection of past experiences is almost entirely determined by two things: 1) how the experience felt when it was at its peak and 2) how it felt when it ended.

When people evaluate past experience, they only recall two things: how it felt at the peak and whether it got better or worse at the end. As a result, a slight improvement, even an improvement from "intolerable" to "pretty bad," makes the whole experience seem better, and a bad ending makes everything seem worse. This "peak-end" rule is how we summarize the experience and then we rely on that summary to remember how the experience felt.

Speaking Experiences, 3rd

Prior to my speech to a group of managers in Bangkok, Thailand, I was told that audience members would periodically be leaving the room to take cell phone calls. To my surprise, every single member of the audience, at least two or three times each, left during his presentation to take calls. So for the entire session, people were constantly coming and going as I spoke.

On short notice, I was requested to speak in Zurich to Swissotel's general managers from their 16 facilities around the world. Because I had departed the previous afternoon from Los Angeles and arrived in Switzerland that morning, I only had time for a 30-minute nap before I had to get dressed, come downstairs, and address the group. The speech went exceedingly well, and apparently no one knew the difference!

Speaking Experiences, 2nd

When Jeff was retained to speak on board a cruise ship to the National Association of Women Business Owners, he was surprised and pleased to discover that he was the only male presenter onboard!

Another time, Jeff presented a half-day seminar to a group of association executives who were given nothing for breakfast and nothing during the breaks except for coffee or tea. By the third hour of the presentation, blood sugar levels and attention spans were dropping all over the room. Had he known in advance, Jeff would have brought bagels and cream cheese for everyone!