I recently attended a business conference. As one of the breakout sessions started the MC began introducing a very illustrious, educated, and well dressed speaker. The biography was a bit lengthy with the number of Board of Director assignments, degree after degree leading up his last at Harvard and etc. The list went on and on, even listed his work with the Boy Scouts. As she read over it, she even stopped and said "With all this education and civic duty listed, when did you have time to work?" He just smiled. My question was, unless he is about to teach us how to tie a knot, will he saying anything I will understand?
Well I admit it, I liked him. He was charismatic, fun, serious, emotional, informative, and thought provoking. He dropped it down to a level low enough for me to understand. He threw in quotes from his favorite philosopher often. Aristotle seemed to a pretty smart fellow for his time.
He nearly preached to us about his topic - Ethics. He inspired us to to strive for integrity in our lives. Living by a code of ethics, values, and principles mixed in with personal integrity, he suggested, will hopefully take us and others on a journey fit for a king. Impressive as his presentation was, I still could not help to but to daydream about the biography. What would mine sound like if I was asked to give a presentation?
"He has worked since he was 12. He worked part time jobs (life guarding, janitorial, activities director, etc.) to help pay for his college education. He took more than four years to complete his degree. He was not a member of any club, because...he was busy working. He loves the outdoors - though he cannot tie a knot (remember no clubs, not even Boy Scouts). He knows exactly what crow tastes like. He is a very lucky husband ...wait, that did not sound right...he has a better wife than he deserves and two children that he adores. He hosts a blog called 'rockbottom' and has self published an ebook under the same title. Please welcome Kipp Bedford."
With spin: "He has worked in fortune 500 companies during his 20+ working career. He majored in Business Administration with minors in numerous other business schools, too many to list here. His civic duties include the Red Cross where he saved lives life guarding, mentored many young lives, and served those in need well. His wife is registered on the National Collegiate Who's Who's Dean's List, she was also a highly respected Trust Officer in the financial world before retiring to take care of their two adorable daughters. Mr. Bedford is a published author with another successful book on the way. Please welcome..."
What it would really sound like if it ever happened: "Please join me in welcoming our guest speaker today; Skip Bradford."
