My Holistic Approach to Speaking at Events

Over the years I’ve organised a hundred plus events, and I know how hard they can be, and how much effort goes on behind the scenes. Perhaps because of this, when I am asked to speak at an event I am committed to it being a success. Here’s examples of the varities of areas I got involved with at the Tropical Innovation Festival held annually in June in Cairns. 

I am fortunate to participate in a variety of speaking and panel sessions.

Here I am giving a key note. I am always grateful if someone takes professional shots of the session – here I was encouraging people to scan the QR code so they could listen to the podcast I was referencing. My favourite presentation tool is Canva.

Here I am hosting a panel session, big topics with brilliant speakers. My role it to keep it on track and surface their genius.

Here I am as a panellist. I connected with all the speakers before the session, and spent time speaking with some of them before we went on stage, so the conversation was warm. I always check out the setup before going on stage. In this scenario they had asked us all to sit on the couch, but I grabbed the chair at the end, which I felt more comfortable on. It also gave me a good vantage of the whole discussion. Sometimes you can get trapped behind people if you are in a row, and not see everyone speaking.

The conference organisers encourage us to suggest speakers who match the vibe of the event. For this event I suggested Phil Fierlinger, who turned out to be quite the hit!

Here’s a photo with the conference organisers, Tara Diversi and Kate Monthgomery, at the final night celebration drinks. I think because we are all so busy during the event we never end up with a perfectly framed photo. It’s important to me that the conference is a success and I am available to the conference organisers during the planning and execution stages. I am invested in the event running successfully.

The Winter weather is lovely and warm during June in Cairns, so many gatherings happening outside, which is refreshing.

We even end up on the reef. I think the length of the festival, and the extremes of FNQ add to the rawness and openess of the conversations.

Hopefully my contribution is valued and I am on the conference organisers list pick of speakers for future conferences! You can read more about my Speaking activities here.