On high impact presentation and inspirational talk

Assalamualaikum wbt and good day.

I love listening to inspiring talks by the high ranked, charismatic people. I know most of us do. It feels so good to hear them talk, their wisdom shows in every moves, gestures, words and sounds.

During my uni days, I love listening to my Chancellor and my Rector's speech. Those two are among the most influential leaders, at least for me, during my uni days. Eveytime they deliver a talk in any occasion or engagement session, I won't miss the opportunity to listen to them, regardless whatever topic they deliver. I know that sometimes not all the points given can be accepted, but nevertheless I just love to hear them, to know what they have in mind in a particular topic.

Here in my organisation, there's more opportunity to listen to these big shots, as many engagement sessions, talks, forum and seminars being held. I love the impact of these successful men (or women) aspiring people, they make the audience engaged until the end and the young ones dreamt to be just like them one day. At least, they make ME feels that way.

One thing I realised is, the higher your position is, the more people will listen. That's one of the advantage of being in control. You hold the power to influence other people.

I recalled my recent experience while handling a seminar just a week ago. One of the speaker (whom I personally adored for his perfect quality of a leader, and eventually he gained success at a considerably very young age) talked about integrity, a classic necessities that is lacking in the heart of employees of most organization in the world. As he was aware his audience are professionals with vast experience, he knew it is no use to elaborate about the definition of integrity, and how it will affect your employment if ever you get caught. Well, those way of elaborating is only suitable for the young execs, but these are matured (read : old) people with many years of experience, certainly different ways of delivering the message of integrity is needed!

So, guess how he delivered the message to his audience?

He started with some definition from Stephen L Carter book. Hey, these people are professionals man, everything they hear must be supported with facts and figures! Later he gave some real examples on the impact of greed and corruption, among which are the humiliated takeovers and bancruptcy of the two giants, Lehmann Brothers and Merril Lynch. Their mighty empire collapsed simply because of their attitude; their breach of trust and lack of integrity.

Furthermore, he took several verses from the Qur'an and hadith and elaborated in a simple and smooth way that touches the depth of heart. As integrity strongly related with responsibility or amanah, he quoted the hadith below :

Sabda Rasulullah SAW :
“ Tiada Iman bagi orang yang tidak Amanah dan Tiada Agama bagi orang yang tidak menepati janji “
[Riwayat : Imam Ahmad]

Sabda Rasulullah SAW :
“ Umat KU akan sentiasa berada di dalam kebaikkan selagi mana mereka tidak menganggap Amanah sebagai punca kekayaan dan sedekah sebagai hutang”
[Riwayat : Imam Ahmad]

Later the speaker amazed me even more, I heard the word `Qana'ah' being used for the first time by a man with a CEO status in my organisation. Qana'ah in context of upholding integrity can be explained as contentment, which is not the fulfillment of what you want, it is the realisation of how much you already have. He also added that the happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that come along their way.

Lastly, he ended his talk with a message 'Kehidupan adalah Ujian, dan Dunia adalah Perhiasan", supported with a beautiful verse 7 of surah Al-Kahfi, as below:

"Sesungguhnya Kami telah menjadikan apa yang ada di bumi sebagai perhiasan baginya, untuk Kami menguji mereka, siapakah di antaranya yang terbaik perbuatannya."

It was that sweet and simple, wrapped perfectly in thirty minutes, and earned the loudest applause from the audience. I was amazed on how his simple his presentation slides are, yet he made a very high impact to the audience. I guess his experience as a CEO and a high impact speaker helped a lot as well. To verify the success of his talk, he got the highest rating among the other speakers in the event. Well deserved, what more can I say.

So you know, the same message conveyed by a laymen compared to the same message conveyed by a high-ranked person really had a huge difference. I've heard the same message being told in a Ceramah not long ago, but it hardly made an impact to the audience. Again, it is the power THAT influence people, which leads TO influence people in an impactful presentation.

I wish to master that skill and be like one of them some day.

If Allah's will, insya Allah.