As a child, some of André Noël Chaker’s schoolmates would call him a ”F*ng Frog” because he was a French-speaking kid at an English-speaking school in Canada 🇨🇦

Later, he graduated as a lawyer from an English-speaking law school. 

Fast forward to today, he’s been awarded twice as the best speaker in Finland, in the Finnish language 🇫🇮

Challenges sometimes turn people into diamonds 💎

It’s always a pleasure to hear André give a talk, this time educating the audience about public speaking skills at a packed event organized by Helsingin Ekonomit. 

It requires special skill and lots of practice to keep an audience engaged for one and a half hours straight. 

André did this by using the toolbox of a good speaker and educator: telling stories, using illustrative examples, and interacting with the audience. 

Not only that, he also made the audience do exercises at regular intervals, he visualized his message with PowerPoint slides, and performed on stage by being the opposite of monotonous: with vocal variety, body language, and the use of the whole stage. 

Had there been a lectern on the stage, he would have kicked it out before the show began.

So, if you need to deliver an important message to an audience, and not put them to sleep with a firehose of data, use some of the techniques mentioned above and witnessed by a satisfied audience Wednesday night. 

To deliver a good talk, I sometimes like to think you need three things: 

1.     have something to say,

2.     have the guts to say it, and 

3.     know how to say it with impact.

We saw all three happen at this event. 

Luckily, all three are also something anyone can figure out, but as with everything else, if you want to be able to deliver a good talk, you need plenty of practice. 

The reward is not insignificant: success in the world of work, as well as outside the work place.

Thank you Helsingin Ekonomit and André for an educational, inspiring and fun event.