Seth in the City

Posted on 15. Apr, 2011
Categories: Management

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I recently had the chance to attend an all-day session with one of my heroes: entrepreneur, provocateur, and bestselling author Seth Godin. Six hours with Seth is a whirlwind of knowledge so I won’t even attempt to summarize what I learned here.

Seth is an amazing speaker and, in this post, I want to review a few of his implicit lessons about not what he said, but how he said it.

Ask Questions

Too many speakers take all 45 minutes for themselves. This isn’t inherently wrong, but why not leave time for audience members to chime in? Especially if you have a decent amount of time, it’s wise to make the experience interactive.

Use Silence

My friend Scott Berkun writes in his latest book about the tendency of many of us to use “safety words.” Umms, uhhs, and “you know’s” fill space that would be effectively replaced by silence. Not seth. The guy is polished and it shows.

Move Things Along

A few people had a hard time articulating questions. Without being rude, Seth was able to get to the core of their question in a timely manner. Don’t let people ramble on and on.

Use Minimal Props

Few speakers use slides effectively, leaving you with two good options:

• Create really cool background effects (I hesitate to call them slides), as my friend Dan Heath recently did at a conference.
• Don’t use any and make yourself the focus of the talk, as Seth did.

Bring Gifts

Everyone received something, including books, autographed posters, and other memorabilia. Smart.

Related Posts:

• On Seinfeld, George Carlin, and Language
• Are You Afraid of Silence?
• Interview with Scott Berkun

Tags: speaking