Having listened to Lord Digby Jones speak last night in Leicester, he personified the straight talking, grounded, evidence supported approach to public speaking that every one of the 300 plus people there found refreshing and insightful.
That response was to be expected as the room was full of lots of suits, grey hair, no hair…it was after all, a charity fund-raising event.
However something intriguing went on during Digby’s note less speech.. I was fascinated to see that the waiters and waitresses were lined up along the back wall – waiting to clear plates in their eyes “as and when the old duffer in the grey suit sat down”.
In the ensuing 40 minute trip round the world that is Digby’s nomadic corporate life, their demeanour changed…gradually they stopped staring at their shoes, the ceiling, in fact anything other than the stage……
Sentence by sentence they became more active listeners…after the 39th minute, when Digby sat down I witnessed the majority of them [girls, boys, white, Asian, African] simultaneously join in the applause.
Wow…..the power of telling it as it is.
If only our leaders [“ the Metropolitan Elite “ as Digby described them!] and the Politicians could convey their ideology in a similar way.
One does…and his name is Boris…
14 May 2013