Publication: Tayo Solagbade’s Weekly Public Speaking IDEAS Page (PSIP) Newsletter
Date: Monday 26th August 2013
No:104
Title: Your Audience Needs Truth – Not Flattery
Author & Publisher: Tayo K. Solagbade
Blog URL: http://www.spontaneousdevelopment.com/blog
Archive (For E-mail only version started 14th May 2012): Click here to view
Archive (For Blog version started 24th September 2011): Click here
Hi,
Please find below the latest issue of my Speaking IDEAS newsletter.
No. 104: Your Audience Needs Truth – Not Flattery
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NB: If you ever find yourself wondering what else I’ve written, some days after you’ve read THIS Speaking Ideas newsletter I send out on a Monday, here’s what you can do to find out: Point your browser to www.spontaneousdevelopment.com/sdnuggets to read at least ONE new post added to my SD Nuggets blog on a different category from Tuesday till Saturday (sometimes even Sundays) in line with this publishing schedule 
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When a public speaker tells an audience of struggling business owners that “evil spirits”, and “enemies from the village” are the reasons they fail, s/he sets them up for longer spells of avoidable hardship! (NB: This issue of my newsletter features a priest, who – for 3 decades now – has provided world class Agri-business know-how to the world, from A-F-R-I-C-A!).
Telling them they’re doing nothing wrong, may win you their applause initially. But it may not endear you to many, if long afterwards they find their circumstances remain unchanged.
No one denies that there can be spiritual dimensions to life situations. It however takes more than “spiritual awareness” to make a success of business.
You need “Savoir faire” (i.e. real world relevant know-how)!
A Priest Delivering Real-World Relevant Agri-business Know-How In Africa For Over 3 Decades
Father Godfrey Nzamujo is founder and catalyst of the world famous “Songhai” Integrated Agricultural Farming Centre (recognised by the UNDP). I consider him an excellent role-model for African experts.
Nzamujo is a Nigerian born Dominican priest with an engineering degree. His Porto Novo, Benin republic founding centre is now over three decades old. EVERYTHING there is recycled in a zero-waste system.
What’s more, trainees who graduate from it are taught “entrepreneurship” on top of time tested farm practices. This helps many go on to establish PROFITABLE farm-based ventures.
No wonder the Songhai model is being rapidly adopted by serious minded African governments!
I understand the most recent high profile visit – this August of 2013 – was from the President of Liberia herself (Ellen Johnson Sirleaf), in whose country a Songhai model centre already exists!
I doubt Father Nzamujo ignores the spiritual responsibility of being a priest in running his center. Yet his center’s success shows that he also does not neglect exploring better ways to run it more profitably.
In other words, he has been able to stike an intelligent balance that enables him achieve both goals.
Sometimes what we may want to hold back from voicing truths we know need to be said. Maybe to avoid offending or upsetting those we speak to. Yet, to really add value to people, you must say what needs to be said.
I practice what I preach, and the following narrative offers an example of how.
I visited Songhai on Thursday 25th July 2013, and met (for the 2nd time in 4 months) Leonce Sessou – a key member of the team.
By the time I departed that day, a bottled sample of my Pineapple Peel-based drink, with copies of my "Tasters Feedback forms" was on his table. He said he would arrange for other members to taste the drink and fill the form.
In case you’re wondering, up till then, Songhai only produced pineapple juice from the core of the fruit for sale in bottled form.
Leonce confirmed that the large amounts of waste peels they produced, was only used for composting. I knew this, and that was why I visited, to tell them how to make MORE PRODUCTIVE use of the peels.
When I explained how I make my drink using the waste pineapple peel obtained FREE from vendors, he told me and that they would invite me to show their team how to convert theirs to drinks as well.
…Other areas of collaboration were also discussed – such as web marketing.
Well, four (4) months earlier, in my very first week in Benin Republic, I’d dropped off a proposal for Father Nzamujo. In it I offered to provide in-house Digital Information Publishing and Web Marketing coaching. This was to boost their ability to earn online income from their wealth of information.
Like I said on my Facebook post on this, contributing to the Songhai project is a dream I’ve nursed since 1987, as a 17 year old undergraduate of Agric. Extension Services in the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
I first learnt about the founder – Father Godfrey Nzamujo – around that time when the African Farmer magazine I subscribed to, reported that he won the "Hunger Project Award". I’ve closely followed Father Nzamujo’s progress since then. And that helped me identify solutions that would interest them.
But it’s not all about me making offers…
I also want to learn from them. It’s not easy to find large scale rabbit rearing operations that are profitably run. Songhai has one – and to finish a Commercial Rabbit Farming Guide I’m working on, I’m hoping they’ll grant me access to take photos, and interview them.
To Tell Accurate Truths, Study Every Client/Prospect’s Unique Situation to Get to Know Them Well
When you visit a doctor for consultation, you expect him/her to tell you the accurate truth about your state of health – and what to do to correct or improve it.
Luckily for us, most doctors do just that.
As an expert in your field, you are a “doctor” of sorts, for your client.
To succeed, you’ll need, just like a conventional doctor, to tell them accurate truths about their situation, and offer viable solutions.
Doctors will often examine your medical history, case files etc, in addition to conducting their own tests, before giving you an opinion on your ailment – or state of health.
Apart from doing independent background research, he explains that you can request interviews with key members, to identify burning issues. From those you interview, you would ask for names of another set of persons you can interview. And so on.
Your purpose would be to sample opinions (on burning issues) that cut across relevant strata in the organisational hierarchy.
You would then develop your material around possible hot buttons you identify, and come up with viable ideas, solutions, and action plans to go with them.
By the time you deliver your program, your audience members are likely to feel you’ve competently addressed virtually all their concerns.
Final Words: Not Telling Your Audiences Accurate Truths, Can Make Them Conclude You’re Incompetent!
Some experts think giving “generic” talks (recycling same content with different client names on progam folders!) to their client audiences will always be adequate.
They forget that clients depend on them to come up with unique insights to improve their performance.
Such lack of commitment eventually hurts an expert guilty of it.
If another expert turns up and tells them the truth, with solutions, they’ll conclude the previous expert did not because s/he was incompetent!
In reality however, that expert could actually be competent, but s/he may have let fear keep him/her from telling them the truth.
Unfortunately, few – if any – clients will be willing to believe that by then!
Need More Details of How to Make The Above Ideas Work for YOU?
If you need more specific details of how to make use of the ideas I’ve shared in this newsletter, send me a message using this request form – with "Re: Your Audience Needs Truth – Not Flattery" in the subject line.
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SD Nuggets Blog™
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Have a lovely week!
Tayo K. Solagbade*
Self-Development/Performance Improvement Specialist
*Sole Agent For Burt Dubin’s Speaker Mentoring Service In Africa
Mobile: 234-803-302-1263
http://www.spontaneousdevelopment.com
Self-Development/Performance Enhancement Specialist – Tayo Solagbade – works as a multipreneurial freelance writer providing zero risk article and report writing support for website owners, while travelling slowly across West Africa as a Location Independent Entrepreneur.
He’s presently based in Benin Republic, where he’s preparing an English-French Language Guide, City Travel Guides, and a Commercial Rabbit Farming Guide.
In a previous life, before leaving to become self-employed, Tayo served for seven years as a high performing manager in Guinness Nigeria. He rose from Shift Brewer, to Training & Technical Development Manager, then later acted in senior management roles as Production Manager and Technical Manager.
When he’s not amazing clients with his superhuman skills (wink), Tayo works as the creative force behind his Self-Development Nuggets™ blog, and Public Speaking IDEAS newsletter (which he publishes to promote Burt Dubin’s Public Speaking Mentoring service to experts working across the African continent).
For a limited time, Tayo is available to speak to your group or organization for a moderate fee. Send e-mail to tayo at tksola dot com. You can also visit www.tksola.com to learn more.
Connect with him on Twitter @tksola.com and Facebook.
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Comments?
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