Make it count

Last week Susan and I had the amazing privilege of traveling to gorgeous St. John’s NewFoundland together. I am in the initial stages of creating a national youth initiative for Gideon’s Canada.

We were given a few minutes on stage to address the crowd which was in excess of 3,000 teenagers in the Mile One Stadium in St. Johns at the YC Conference. As we waited to go onstage (when I took this pic) the presenter who was ahead of us had gone over-time. The stage crew were all buzzing around like angry bees who’s hive had been whacked by a hockey stick.

At one point the executive producer turned to us and said “he’s cutting into your time.”

For those of you accustomed to presenting, you know that what was actually said to us was, “keep it short and make it count.” 5 minutes to cast vision that lasts more than the 5 minutes it took you to deliver it. No pressure. The greatest challenge of effective communication is to say something that has a lasting impact.

Well, as Shakespeare once said, “Brevity is the soul of wit.”

I was thankful that I had Susan on stage with me – brevity is not exactly my strength