More on The Nines

Now that I’ve had a chance to sleep on it, I’ll share a few more thoughts on yesterday’s free online leadership, The Nines.

One thing that quickly became clear is that everyone has different passions, callings, and things they’re focused on. Some of those passions and focuses meshed well with my own passions while others didn’t necessarily grab my attention. But sometimes we need to hear those, too!

Interestingly, the communicators seemed to interpret the request to share “one thing” differently than others. Some communicators had one point while others had multiple points. I liked the one-point approach better ( but that shouldn’t be a surprise).

The communicators used their time differently. Some jumped right into their topic while others eased into their topic with introductory comments. While I understand the desire to build rapport with the audience, I think in this format, my favorite communicators were ones that maximized their time and did less introductory stuff.

The worst offender (among the ones I saw) was the one who, except for opening and closing remarks had a good presentation. I appreciate the guy’s leadership and writings, but why he used his opening remarks (part of his precious 9 minutes) to express his pride in being a PC user is beyond me (and not just because I’m a Mac). If that weren’t enough, his final words told the audience that he was going to turn off his Dell laptop. Tragic thing is, the only thing I remember from his presentation is his love for his (Dell) PC. Apparently, he was making a statement, but was that really what he wanted to communicate?

I mention that not to criticize that particular communicator but as a lesson for other communicators, including myself, to make the most of our words and our time. The Nines highlights the importance of words. And perhaps it demonstrates, too, that less is more.

This 12-hour event was different than most other personal growth events. I liked the format. It forced the communicators to focus on the most important things they wanted to say. I’d like to see this format used more. Of course, it’s certainly a more cost friendly approach for “attendees”! 🙂

Finally, it looks like the videos will be available at YouTube soon. I may offer more reflections as I view / review more of them. As always, feel free to chime in.

2 thoughts on “More on The Nines”

  1. i’ve presented in barcamp/podcamp formats where they are open source conferences on speed. 10/15/20 minutes is all you get so you need to figure out what is most important & as any good artist knows, know what to leave out.

    what i found interesting, was that some people said “i’ve only got 1 thing to say” they’d say that thing then go on for 7 minutes on that one thing.. where i was saying, great got it.. there wasn’t any storytelling either. one of the great TED talks (IMHO) was given by Malcolm Gladwell. Here’s a guy, published author, in front a packed house of corporate & world leaders and he tells a story of the guy who created spaghetti sauces.. brilliant!

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