In recent times there has been an explosion in the number of conferences, webinars and indeed podcasts aimed at the talent acquisition audience. The kind of peer to peer learning these platforms are driving is incredibly useful and therefore, extremely popular. However, this only all works if there a steady flow of practitioners who are prepared to step up and share their story and I know this is something that many people find challenging.
My guests this week are Audra Knight, senior manager of employer branding at Foundation Medicine and Katrina Kibben the founder and CEO of Three Ears Media.
Audra and Katrina are both fantastic speakers who have some brilliant advice to share with anyone who either wants to get started or be better at speaking.
In the interview, we discuss:
- Why a talent acquisition professional would want to get involved with speaking
- How to get started
- How to find speaking opportunities
- How to pitch to speak
- Should speakers be paid?
- How to prepare
- Dealing with nerves
- Most common speaking mistakes
- The importance of preparation
Audra and Katrina also talk about the favourite presentations they have given.
Transcript:
Matt Alder [00:00:00]:
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Matt Alder [00:01:04]:
Hi everyone, this is Matt Alder. Welcome to episode 211 of the Recruiting Future podcast. In recent times there’s been an explosion in the number of conferences, webinars and indeed podcasts aimed at the talent acquisition audience. The kind of peer to peer learning these platforms are driving is incredibly useful and therefore extremely popular. However, this only all works if there is a steady flow of practitioners who prepared to step up and share their story. And I know this is something that many people find challenging. My guests this week are Audra Knight, Senior Manager of Employer Branding at Foundation Medicine and Katrina Kibben, the founder and CEO of 3 Years Media. Audra and Katrina are both fantastic speakers who have some brilliant advice to share with anyone who either wants to get started or be better at speaking. Enjoy the interview.
Matt Alder [00:02:07]:
Hi Audra and Katrina and welcome to the podcast. Absolutely amazing to have both of you on the show. Could you just introduce yourselves and tell us what you do?
Audra Knight [00:02:18]:
Sure thing. Thank you Matt. I’m excited to be back on the show again, so thanks for having me. And my name is, you mentioned Audra Knight and I work for a company, it’s a new role for me, only about four months in called Foundation Medicine in the Cambridge area and it’s been super exciting. It’s just the perfect, perfect employer brand role for me. But also the company just has an unbelievable mission and this great story to tell which is fantastic as well. And then I’ve also been on the board for the Talent Brand alliance and we’re doing all sorts of things to help bring together the employer brand community. So I’ve been busy but all good.
Katrina Kibben [00:02:54]:
Absolutely. And my name is Katrina Kibben. I’m the founder and CEO of Three Ears Media and at three Years Media we teach recruiters to be better writers.
Matt Alder [00:03:02]:
Fantastic stuff. So what we’re going to talk about today is getting started in speaking. There’s A growing amount of recruiting events across the, across the entire planet. And also a kind of an explosion in podcasts and sort of other platforms where recruiters and talent acquisition professionals, you know, can get involved and talk about, talk about their work. I feel this acutely as a, as a podcast host. Always sort of looking for new stories and new speakers, but sometimes there can be a reticence for people to get started with speaking and sort of put their hands up and get involved in these, in these platforms and these events. As two very experienced speakers, it’d be excellent to sort of get your advice for people thinking about starting out. So first question, why would a recruitment professional want to get involved and want to start speaking? Katrina, what do you think?
Katrina Kibben [00:03:57]:
Well, I think it’s a great opportunity to embed yourself in new ideas. On one hand, right? It’s not just the opportunity to get on stage, but I think it’s an opportunity to surround yourself with concepts that maybe you haven’t heard about before. As a speaker, I think it gives you two things in particular that really helps. One, it gives you access to other speakers. So if you have those questions right, you actually have the advantage as a learner because you have the badge, you can get into the room, you can talk to whoever you want to. I think on the other side of it, it really helps as we go back to our teams and bring ideas and that we can represent our teams and recruit from the stage and we can kind of bring back well tested ideas for our team so that they can be really engaged in the idea, not just, you know, the everyday monotony of recruiting.
Audra Knight [00:04:56]:
Perfect, I’ll jump in. But I have to say she completely nailed that. So there’s not much left. But I totally agree that it’s an awesome bonus that you get to go to these events, usually for free. If it works out that way, learn from the other speakers, the other people, networking. I think it’s also great for career growth because you’re showing your employer, you know, that you’re a thought leader. No, I guess that word’s not not allowed to be used anymore, but you can really help grow it within your career. Or say, maybe you do want to move to a different company. It certainly doesn’t hurt to have these things, you know, on your resume. And then also, just selfishly, it’s kind of fun to see people get excited about your own ideas. I love so much when I’m up there and I can see people taking notes, like really vigorously, it shows me that they’re excited about these ideas and that they’re going to take something back to their company. That’s a great feeling.
Matt Alder [00:05:44]:
And how.
Matt Alder [00:05:45]:
I mean, what’s your advice for people in terms of. In terms of sort of getting started with speaking? If people have sort of made the decision that they want to put themselves out there and, you know, speak at an event or on a podcast or whatever it might be, what’s. What’s the best way to get started? I mean, you know, Audra, how did you get started? What are your. What are your thoughts on that?
Audra Knight [00:06:04]:
Well, I think what’s cool about that right now, and you kind of already mentioned it, is that conferences I’m finding or venues are more open to new speakers and new ideas. Where I feel like when I started or was starting, it was more like you had to be the big name that everyone wanted, that sold the tickets and everyone already knew. And I think now it’s much more open to new people. So that’s a fantastic start for anyone that’s looking to do that. For me, I started actually doing webinars, and I’ll give a shout out to Mira Greenland, who gave me my first webinar. And I was absolutely terrible. I was so nervous and so, so bad. But it was just a great start. And I did a bunch of webinars after that. I got a little more comfortable, you know, just hearing myself talk and sharing. And I also went to quite a few conferences. I would kind of budge my way in somehow and then again get to know speakers and the organizer. So that when it was time and I felt like I was ready, I knew who to pitch it to. So I definitely think webinars or also being on a panel is a good start, too, because it’s a little bit less pressure and it’s kind of easier to get in that way and get used to it before you want to be on your own.
Katrina Kibben [00:07:10]:
Sorry, I just wanted to mention a story, actually, that Audra and I have on this exact topic. I think the reason I remember it so much is because I was sitting in the back of a van with all the Recruiting Daily guys. Do you remember this, Audra?
Audra Knight [00:07:23]:
I remember texting you when you were in that van, but I forget what it was about.
Katrina Kibben [00:07:26]:
You called me and you were like, I want to speak.
Audra Knight [00:07:30]:
Oh, dear.
Katrina Kibben [00:07:31]:
And you wanted to talk through your presentation. I think you were doing something on video in recruiting and that. Actually, I think back on that and that is the advice I give every person who asks me how they can start speaking now, not to call me while I’m in a van. That’s not the advice. The advice was that I tell them to go out and call five people they know that speak. So I say this to job seekers, I say this to anyone who wants to do something they aren’t doing. Right now you call five people who are doing it and tell them, I want to do this. What’s the most important piece of advice you can give me? They all have one, right? They always have the advice. Come on. You can’t buy a cup of coffee without someone giving you advice today. But the cool part is that you get on their radar. And when you’re on someone’s radar, what happens is there is a bit of reticence, right? There is a bit of, I’ve seen the same person again and again and again and again, and that’s going to happen forever. That’s not something anyone on this call or anyone who’s listening is probably going to fundamentally change. But what we can do is make other people aware of us and really, like, bank on relationships, because that’s how you interrupt this monotone environment.
Audra Knight [00:08:56]:
Yep.
Katrina Kibben [00:08:57]:
Great.
Audra Knight [00:08:57]:
Completely.
Matt Alder [00:08:58]:
Absolutely. And I think that that’s also a great piece of advice in terms of getting yourself out there as a speaker and finding places to speak. Because as a speaker myself, I’m constantly asked about other speakers I might recommend or new stories that people haven’t heard before. And going about it in that way is a great way of kind of sort of networking yourself into these opportunities. I mean, what other ways are out there of people finding sort of speaking opportunities in your experience?
Audra Knight [00:09:28]:
I was just going to throw out a Facebook group that Katrina Collier and Louise Triumphs and I just started about a year ago, and it’s called Speaking for All. So it’s Speaking, Speaking for all, one word. And the whole point of that really is to share different speaking opportunities and advice for anyone that’s interested in speaking. So please come join us and then you can maybe learn some more ideas.
Katrina Kibben [00:09:52]:
And two lists, if you’re the kind of person who just wants a go, do this on this day. So you can apply for this, which works sometimes. I say, Hung Lee does an amazing list of events and he constantly is updating it. And HR Marketer actually has, or they’re called advocates now, I believe, but they actually have a subscription list that they send me an email and tell me what events are upcoming, when to apply, who’s the lead contact, all of that.
Audra Knight [00:10:26]:
That’s cool. I didn’t even know about that one.
Matt Alder [00:10:28]:
I’m writing that down as well. That’s really interesting. So once people have sort of found the opportunities, what’s your advice in terms of pitch to speak? What’s the consideration? How do you get someone’s attention and get included in a conference agenda?
Audra Knight [00:10:45]:
I actually look at it like Personas in employer branding. I say I need to hire data scientists. I need to understand what they care about, what matters to them, so that I can attract them where I think it’s kind of the same with these organizers of these events. You have to think what matters to them. And in most cases, not always, but it’s really. They want butts and seats. They want to know that you’re going to sell tickets and you’re going to attract people to come to their conference. And that can be because you have a big brand behind you, which is something I’ve never had. I prefer to work for smaller companies. That can be because you have, like, a really big name, which I think that’s arguable for me now, but definitely, definitely did not early on. So if you don’t have either of those things, then I think it’s going to come down to awesome content and the networking. But then once you know who it is, you say, look, this is what I’m going to speak about. Maybe it’s something new, Something may be controversial or interesting, but you really just have to say, what can I sell? How can I sell myself to this person in a way that they’re going to say, boom, she’s going to attract people to come to my event.
Matt Alder [00:11:43]:
Katrina, anything to add?
Katrina Kibben [00:11:44]:
Okay, so this is a little bit of a copywriting trick, but something that I’ve learned doing this for a while. Number one, I always write my session descriptions in November for the whole year.
Audra Knight [00:11:56]:
Whoa.
Katrina Kibben [00:11:57]:
So I write four every year that I think are about the four topics that people are talking about the most right now. So the way I pick those, I actually spend a couple of weeks with a list, and I look at Facebook groups, I look at Twitter and do my normal scan, right, the normal kind of intake that we all do, just seeing what’s going on on the Internet. So I have a little sticky note, and I will write down ideas that I get based on posts that I see, and I’ll put tick marks when I start to see frequency or things that I could include in that topic. So I’m actually starting this process right now. So you guys are catching me at the very beginning. So I’ll sit there and I’ll tally. Big thing you have to do is you have to say it. The way they say it. So I really like what Audra said about Personas. When they say I need nurture sequences for recruiting automation. I write down nurture sequences, not emails, not CRM. Right. Not automation for recruiting. I write down exactly what they say. Then you’re realizing this is like an intensive process. But I think this has really helped in that. Then I go back, I do some SEO research and understand the related queries that are happening right now, what people are searching in relation to these phrases. And then I model my titles after books. And this is something I actually took from my mentor. His name is Mike Kim. I highly recommend everyone follow him, read up on his stuff. He’s one of the best copywriters and honestly one of the best copywriters I’ve ever met. But what he told me was, so you go on Amazon, you type in the phrase and you see what books are available and you look at book titles because book titles are heavily researched on audience. They are, they are built with science. So steal the science is basically what he said. Like, every book title is a model.
Matt Alder [00:14:03]:
That’s, that’s, that’s, that’s really interesting. That’s really interesting stuff. Again, some, some very, very, very, very good advice there. I think what I’d add to that is what I’ve noticed from having guests on the podcast, particularly people who coming on like something like this for the first time and have never spoken at conferences before. My advice to people would be be confident in your subject matter. Some of the very best stories and very best interviews that I’ve had on the show have come from people who have never shared their story before. And because they’re in the middle of doing it and it’s kind of all encompassing, don’t necessarily realize how genuinely interesting it is for, for other people to hear about the, hear about what they’re doing, hear about the challenges they have and all that kind of stuff. So I think, I think it’s really important as well that people are, you know, that people have conf. In the, in the story that they’re. The stories that they, they, they can tell. Even if, even if those stories are about, you know, just about the challenges that they, that they have.
Audra Knight [00:15:06]:
Yep, definitely.
Matt Alder [00:15:07]:
So, next question. Should you ask to get paid?
Audra Knight [00:15:10]:
This is a. Definitely a hot topic. And I, I’m very excited to hear what Katrina has to say.
Katrina Kibben [00:15:14]:
So you want me to go first on this one?
Audra Knight [00:15:16]:
Yeah.
Katrina Kibben [00:15:18]:
Okay. So I say yes, but is my answer. I do believe that people should be compensated in some way, but I think there’s nuance to this. So I think when you’re just getting started out and you are really seeking out opportunity, I do not think you should be demanding a fee. However, at a minimum, you should be given a free ticket to that event. I think it is, I’m going to use the word disgusting because I really, I feel that strongly about it that someone would invite me to an event to do work for them, to speak for them, and have them not even give me a ticket. So that’s the baseline and I do consider that compensation. Right. It’s a tick. I mean, it’s $401,000, whatever that is, pounds, euros, whatever it is some form of compensation that you get to at least be at that event for free now after you have some experience. So here’s an example, here’s a. But if they ask you to speak at their event, you should be compensated. Clearly, your audience has leveled up to the place where you are in demand. They want you. There should be some compensation above the level of that ticket, whether that is your travel or small fee or both. Right. And I think you, for me, it’s been more of a pacing. I’ll tell you, when I worked for other companies and I was kind of building my way up, I was not getting paid, let’s say that one more time. I have no shame in that. I was not getting paid to speak, but I worked my butt off to make sure people wanted me to come. And so when I started my company, I was really honest with people about the fact that I’m not working on someone else’s budget anymore and I need to be compensated. And if you’re going out of your way to ask me to be there, clearly I’m going to help you make money. I bet you. I help you make more money than you end up ever paying me. And I still get a lot of free requests and I still do a lot of pro bono speaking. I do, because I think there are definitely, there are moments when the opportunity outweighs the cost. But it is a case by case basis. And I just want to encourage people to feel bold enough to ask, do you have a budget? Right. Don’t feel like you can’t ask, I think is the biggest thing that I’ve been trying to perpetuate and probably why both of you are excited to hear my answer in the first place.
Matt Alder [00:17:58]:
Audra, what are your thoughts?
Audra Knight [00:18:00]:
I totally agree with what you said. I think I’ll even as a practitioner, though, I get less out of it. Like, I’m not Going to get business from the people. So I do, I do prefer or really think it’s important that they cover travel and hotel. There’s, you know, there’s a few big, big, big conferences that don’t. And I would consider it, but it’s a lot of work for each one. I create my own. My own slides. I do a ton of research and I practice tons. So I think that the least they can do is definitely a ticket because I’m going to that whole thing and they. And they want me there for the whole thing. Right. Because I’m going to be tweeting about it and talking to people and sharing. But also I think they should cover travel and hotel.
Matt Alder [00:18:42]:
Yeah, I mean, I kind of absolutely agree with that. I do. I do a lot of speaking. Sometimes I get paid, sometimes I don’t. And for me, I’m a consultant, so obviously that’s slightly different position. But for me, it’s about this fair exchange of value, basically. If it’s a platform where I can promote my business or promote my podcast, and I feel that that’s worth the time and effort that I’m going to, Going to put in to do a great presentation, then that’s kind of worth considering. However, I would always. I think paying travel expenses is, Is the least that people can do. And as for paying for a ticket to speak at an event, you’re speaking at, that. That’s ridiculous. That’s ridiculous. So whoever’s doing that, just stop. That’s so not cool. Okay, so once people have found someone to speak and they’re booked and, you know, we’ve sorted out whether they’re. They’re sort of getting pa. Getting paid or whatever it might be. How do you prepare? How do you guys prepare? How did you sort of prepare for your first. Your first big presentations?
Katrina Kibben [00:19:38]:
I am a nut about preparation, which you can probably gather from the way that I described how I pick a session overview. I. So I do it in phases, and I think this, this can actually be really helpful for people. So the. The first thing that I do is an outline where I literally just write out the story that I want to tell. Beginning to end this, I wanted to say this, and then I want to say this, then I want to explain three things.
Matt Alder [00:20:05]:
Boop, boop, boop.
Katrina Kibben [00:20:07]:
Then I want to do this. Then I want to do this, because that gives you a framework where you’re actually telling a story and you’re not doing what I call the data dump, which is my least favorite kind of presentation in all of recruiting and it is about 90% of recruiting presentations where they literally just spit numbers at you and act like you’re supposed to walk away harder. So if you start with a story, you end with a story. So always start with that outline. Then you build your slides and actually, like, visualize what that story is. You practice with notes one week before you dump your notes. You practice without notes three days before you print. And you only write your hit list of speaking. So you know the zinger, the transition, the little, like the thing that makes everyone go ooh and tweet. You do a version of your notes that just has those on it. So when you’re going on stage, you are just rehearsing the zingers. You’re so comfortable with it that you’re just practicing transitions so that it’s so smooth. And then approximately one hour before I panic and I sweat a lot. I don’t think that that’s an official.
Matt Alder [00:21:24]:
Part of my process. Is that an official step in the process?
Katrina Kibben [00:21:29]:
It’s very consistent for me, so it does feel like a part of the process. But how about you, Audra?
Audra Knight [00:21:34]:
Well, I definitely share that last part with you as well. I think everything you said was fantastic. I love it. Two things that were helpful for me after I booked my first one, and then I panicked and I said, oh, my God. But I had six months, thankfully, and I just knew nothing, nothing about public speaking. So I went to YouTube and just watched tons and tons of YouTube videos. There’s just. It’s free, unlimited amounts of people just giving you tips. So it certainly doesn’t hurt to start there. And then I did something. I went to Toastmasters, which I had never heard of, but some random friend said, you know, this is this great place where you can practice speaking. So I went to my first one and the group just didn’t really work for me. I didn’t really feel comfort. And thankfully, I tried a different group and they were just really down to earth. I felt really comfortable and for me, it was fantastic. A good example is filler words. I had never heard of the UMS and the AHS and the Sos. I didn’t know anything about them. In my first speech at this Toastmasters meeting, I did 34 of them. And then because they count them, which is stressful, but awesome. And then my second speech, like a week later, I did seven. And then my third time, zero. So they are really good about just giving, giving you the basics, getting you standing up there. Again, not for everyone. Some people think they make you kind of too prepared or thinking about those things. But for me, it was fantastic. And then the only thing I’ll throw into what Katrina said, which I tend to not do because it kind of scares me, but I think it’s brilliant, is to record yourself. Like, put a camera in a mirror and do the whole speech the week before and record it a couple times, because they say when you watch it back, you know, you’re just going to see maybe these awkward points or moments. So I think that’s a great tip, but I just have to get the nerve to do it myself.
Matt Alder [00:23:25]:
So, following on from that, how do you deal with nervousness? Because it’s something that everyone. Everyone feels, Even the most kind of experienced speakers out there, everyone gets nervous. How do you deal with it?
Audra Knight [00:23:38]:
One thing I would say is that just know that you absolutely can overcome it and that it’s normal. When I was in school, I would get nervous just raising my hand to answer a question, and I would get nervous then, and I still do, like Katrina said. But it’s just the way that you learn to embrace it. The best advice I got ever was from a colleague about five years ago. It was actually for a show for my band. It was a big one. And I said, oh, my gosh, I’m so nervous I’m not gonna be able to play. And she was an actress, and she said, if you’re really, really nervous and your heart’s beating, that means something really, really awesome is about to happen to you. And you just need to say, wow, this is exciting. I can’t wait for what’s going to happen. This is something that I’ll remember forever. And just think of it as excitement, which it is. It’s excitement as much as, you know, being scared, too, but really embraces excitement. And be happy that something’s happening to you, that you get to be that nervous.
Katrina Kibben [00:24:33]:
Yeah. People tell me all the time, oh, you’re better when you’re most nervous, because I am. I think there’s something about that energy that you have to reframe the energy. If you look at it as, I’m so nervous, I’m gonna suck. No, no, no. I’m so nervous, I’m gonna bring it. Like, I’m gonna take this energy and I’m gonna make it part of who I am. Like, something I’ll do if I’m really nervous when I get on stage, I’m like, whew. Y’all, I am nervous. Let me just shake it out real quick. And the second I say that, I see People, one, they connect with me, they know I’m a human. But two, I’m not as nervous because I just admitted it. Like, you’re human, they’re human. We’re all on the same page on this. I still remember my very, very first speaking gig. I did talentnet. That’s a great event, by the way, for first time speakers. I think Craig for sure, he wears this as a badge of honor that a lot of people have done their first speaking gigs there. But the reason I say that is that we were in this huge conference hall and I, you guys are gonna laugh at me. I literally was bunny hopping down this empty hallway to try to get my energy out because I was that worked up. And this guy looked at me and he was like, look, you’ll be fine. You just, you need 12 more hops and one big deep breath. And I still think about him in that moment. That’s all you need. Jump up and down a few times, take a deep breath, and if you’re shaking so bad you can’t even speak, just tell him.
Audra Knight [00:26:11]:
Craig’s actually helped me with that same thing before too. He’s super sweet. One other thing I’m going to throw out is Amy Cuddy has a great TED talk about power posing and it’s actually really helped me. So it’s definitely worth a Google Fantastic.
Matt Alder [00:26:25]:
So what are some of the most common mistakes you see people making when you’re watching other people present?
Audra Knight [00:26:32]:
My biggest pet peeve is the beginnings and the endings. I hate when they’re boring and I can see people zone out when someone gets up there and they say, thank you, my name is so and so, and they just kind of slowly drag into it. You can see people’s eyes just kind of glaze over and they’re thinking about, oh, work. Or they check their email where I get up there and I say something either controversial or crazy, or I get their attention and they go, whoa, all right, she’s serious. And then even more so at the ending. I feel so bad. I can’t stand it when people say, okay, I’m all done now. And I’m like, no end with something big and exciting and that something they’ll remember. So those are big ones that I need to work on too, but I think is important.
Katrina Kibben [00:27:12]:
I think mine is back to what I said earlier about that data dump. I think so many people think that presenting data is a presentation and it’s not like, I’m sorry, please don’t just like read a bunch of stats off to me and Then be like, so now we know the candidates hate email. I’m like, okay, now what? Like, I think something that I hear a lot, and I’ve heard this about Audra’s presentations as well, is like, I want something tactical. Like, I want to know what I’m supposed to go and do when this is over. And so I hate presentations that have none of that. It’s all philosophical. And you don’t. The practitioners in the room, who are the people you’re supposed to be serving, by the way, have no idea what to do.
Matt Alder [00:28:01]:
I think you put it on Facebook a few weeks back, Audra, about that, how people start their presentations and the unnecessary introduction. If the host has already introduced you, why do you then have to introduce yourself, introduce yourself again? It sort of takes from the take, takes from the flow. And sometimes I’ve seen people who do want to make a bit of introduct to themselves, but they actually do that after their kind of opening, opening, opening piece that gets the audience’s attention. So I think that’s, that’s really interesting. In fact, it’s all excellent advice. So what happens when things go wrong? How do you cope when the unexpected happens or things just don’t run the way that you’re expecting them to?
Katrina Kibben [00:28:44]:
Don’t make any horribly offensive jokes would be my number one. That’s usually my go to. Don’t recommend. No, I think one, if you come prepared, that helps a lot because no matter what’s going wrong, and we talked a little bit about this right before we turned on the recording, so I won’t share anyone’s secrets, but I think we’ve all had those moments where if we had taken that extra little minute, if you know your stuff forward, backwards, upside down and everything, despite any promises made to you, you can still run without your slides. For example, because I’ve definitely been there at the last minute, someone’s like, oh, do you have this file type? I’m like, no, I don’t. But when you know your content, I’m not joking. Two weeks ago, I did a training for a global team. So I was talking to people in Costa Rica, Germany, here in the us, all over the world. I had to do my first six slides with no slides because the technology did not work. And the only way to compensate for all hell breaking loose is preparation.
Audra Knight [00:30:01]:
Yeah, I’m just going to say the same preparation. I have backups of everything. When I was an emcee, I had my notes on my cards, then I had a backup notes in my cards. And I Think I had one maybe in the hotel room. And the slidestand terrifies me because I kind of like those cues. So I’ll have a printout of the slides that hopefully I’ll never have to use, but in there, there, so I don’t kind of panic. And all you can really do is prep, but then also just be human if it happens, you know, kind of laugh it off and you can make a joke like I’m gonna be. This is gonna be tricky. And go with it. People, people can see that you’re having a hard time and they’re gonna be nice about it and wanna help and understand.
Matt Alder [00:30:41]:
Yeah, absolutely. I think that the vast majority of the time the. The audience is on your side. And I’ve been the victim of countless failed microphones and technologies and fire alarms and all kinds of things going on. And this is not your fault and the audience realizes that. And I think that if you, if you treat the audience as if they’re on your side, most of the time they are, and make a joke of it and just try and carry on in the best way possible. I think that makes for action even more memorable presentation in my view.
Audra Knight [00:31:13]:
Great point.
Matt Alder [00:31:14]:
So, final question. Tell us about one of the favorite presentations you’ve ever given and why it’s one of your favorites.
Audra Knight [00:31:22]:
Mine was actually pretty recently, my latest one, which was I got to be the emcee for the Employer Brand Strategies Conference, which is a conference I absolutely loved anyway, and it was kind of a bucket list to one day get to emcee it. So I am really, really proud that I pitched in. I. She accepted it and then I panicked because I know not much about being an emcee, but I knew it was. That I was going to do well. It’s just in my wheelhouse and I love getting to know people and introducing them and supporting them and it was hard, hard work. But thankfully, because I had done my research, I knew that so I could really prepare. I did what Katrina did and I reached out to some of the people that are well known. MCs Lars Schmidt gave me some awesome advice. Andrew Gadomski, a bunch of people just gave me some tips on what worked for them. I youtubed it and got some advice there and I was just. I pulled it off two days of hard work, but I was just so proud of how it went.
Katrina Kibben [00:32:18]:
So mine is actually pretty recently as well. So I did a presentation on how to write better job postings. But the reason I’m really proud of it was a little less on how I did, but a little more on how they asked me to do a workshop and in a 30 minute format. That’s really hard to actually get off the stage and interact with people. But we did it and we actually helped people rewrite a job right there. Like right then and there in 30 minutes, people walked out of there with new skills lists, new bullets in hand, and that was really exciting. I, I love those moments when as a teacher and a writer, I think there’s something really special about actually showing people how to write live right and being able to connect with them on that level. And watching that light bulb go off, that’s my favorite part. But like realizing that you are so in sync with these people, it’s like you’re sitting at a bar, but you’re sitting at a bar with 300 people.
Audra Knight [00:33:24]:
Yeah, I love to, to, to be able to help the speakers because some of them were nervous like we just talked about and I got to right before they’re going on, you know, I’m right there with them and I, it was so cool to be like kind of talking them through to it and support them in the way that other people have supported me.
Matt Alder [00:33:37]:
Audra and Katrina, it has been absolutely brilliant to have you on the show. Thank you very much for talking to me.
Audra Knight [00:33:43]:
Awesome. Thank you so much, Matt.
Katrina Kibben [00:33:44]:
Thank you.
Matt Alder [00:33:45]:
My thanks to Audra and Katrina. You can subscribe to this podcast in Apple Podcasts or via your podcasting app of choice. The show also has its own dedicated app, which you can find by searching for recruiting future in your app store. If you’re a Spotify or Pandora user, you can also find the show there. You can find all the past episodes@www.rfpodcast.com. on that site, you can subscribe to the mailing list and find out more about working with me.
Matt Alder [00:34:16]:
Thanks very much for listening.
Matt Alder [00:34:18]:
I’ll be back next week and I hope you’ll join me.
