Disclaimer: I don't know who this speaker is.
I picked this picture as a generic example.
I hope he was well received.
Morguefile.com free photographs for commercial use
Have you ever looked forward to a speaker either at a conference or a writer's group and been disappointed?
I was a victim of this. One of the writer's groups I'm in, scheduled a well known person in the area to speak at our meeting. I was very much looking forward to hearing this person, and learning details of their profession which might give me some insight into my storytelling. What I heard was nothing what I expected.
This person was so pompous and ate up with themselves, it was nauseating. They used their time to tell us how smart, how successful, and how religious they were (which I don't understand what that had to do with anything). No time on procedure or insight into their profession. Questions were never answered directly, but twisted around to point out again how important they were. (or thought they were)
I left there very disappointed. I try to take away something from every speaker I hear. What I took away from this: I will never waste my time attending one of this person's presentations again.
Thankfully, most speakers I've heard have been both informative and approachable. And I much appreciate their insight and encouragement.
I was laughing when I read this. I had the same experience with a speaker at the last ORA conference. I don't remember her name (which I'm sure would have surprised her), but I will always remember her insistence on everyone acquiescing to her command to get up and do stretching exercises in the middle of the presentation. (I HATE THAT).
ReplyDeleteI wasn't open to coercion at the moment and sat there, along with my friend. She looked directly at us, pointed at us, and demanded we stand up. Nope. We just stared back. She demanded it again, with everyone staring at us. Nope. For all she knew, someone could have a back injury...or a heavy period....or vertigo...or just a plain bad attitude. Doesn't matter; it was none of her business.
She finally gave up. If she was going to be obnoxious, she could have at least been an interesting speaker, but sadly, she was unsatisfying in that area, as well.
I do have that delicious moment of the defeat on her face to remember, though, so there's that.
I remember that! And I wasn't impressed with her either. Thanks for reading.
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