Inspiring People

Posted by Jeff Burns on 17 January 2018 | 0 Comments Articles

Are your safety events inspiring people? The dictionary definition of ‘inspire’ is to fill someone with the urge or ability to do or feel something. And yet a common feeling during safety meetings is the desire to be out of the meeting!

Scott Barry Kaufman writing in the Harvard Business Review comments, “Inspiration propels a person from apathy to possibility, and transforms the way we perceive our own capabilities.” In winning over hearts and minds in the drive towards improving safety performance, we have found a number of ways that can help inspire others.

Wealth of resources

Of course to inspire others, one has to first of all be inspired oneself. Fortunately there are numerous activities or sources of inspiration. The comment of a child can be inspiring. For further reading on my own personal experience of this check out this article about my 4 year old nephew. Other sources can be some of the amazing TED talks. Just type in ‘inspiring TED talks’ to any search engine and you will see a wealth of resources.

stories give colour and depth to otherwise bland material, and they allow people to connect with the message in a deeper more meaningful way – Peter Guber, Chairman and CEO, Mandalay Entertainment

In my experience, one of the best ways to inspire others is through telling a story. People of all ages love stories and we have seen people hanging on to every word and then pulling their own learning from the story. The stories can be funny, or can draw from painful personal experience but they can still help to engage and inspire people.

Try and use your own personal stories. That makes you different from every other speaker, and makes you more interesting. And if you don’t think you are that great at telling stories, don’t worry, just do it and allow yourself to develop and get better.

As we tell stories in our safety meetings, people will pay more attention, will listen closer and may then open up and tell you their story.

Get in touch to find out how we can help inspire your safety audience.

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