Last week was Business Week in Donegal and as usual Donegal Local Enterprise Office put together a programme of impressive workshops and events to get those in business in the county to think about their enterprise.
It all kicked off with a wonderful talk from Geoff Ramm and while I didn’t get to very many more events during the week, from what I can gather he was the big name attraction, the man who grabbed most of the attention.
To be honest I wasn’t that surprised. I attended his talk on Monday last and was blown away by his energy and flawless delivery – but most of all by the fact that what he was saying all made perfect sense.
I have been to plenty of talks like that before that have been all smoke and mirrors, plenty of entertainment and no real substance, nothing for anyone really to take away from it at the end.
Geoff Ramm’s wasn’t like that and the Milk Tray Man wannabe gave some real gems of simple wisdom and left me with plenty of food for thought ahead of my own presentation on Thursday afternoon.
I gave everyone who came to the talk a Hershey’s chocolate kiss
attached to my business card just before they left.
One of my key messages on the day was KISS – Keep It Short and Sweet.
In contrast to the Tynesider who flies all over the world sharing his expertise, Thursday was the first time that I’d be on my feet in front of local business owners for such a long time, offering some advice.
Was I nervous? You can bet your life I was and that wasn’t helped any when my presentation got stuck on the very first slide.
But I got around that without too much of a panic and set about my presentation on helping businesses improve how they can tell their story.
With that in mind, I had a few short tips that I wanted them to take away and I tried to keep things as interesting and interactive as possible.
For me, it was very much a learning experience. I recorded the workshop and I know that when I am brave enough to look back at it later this week, that there will be many lessons to learn and ways to improve.
Getting on my feet to give the two-hour presentation pushed me to a new place and in many ways, to a place outside my comfort zone.
But it was an opportunity too good to miss and one I have gained a lot from.
Indeed I could wax lyrical about some of the things I had to say that afternoon, but I won’t.
If there’s one thing I hope those who came last week will remember, it’s when they are telling their story, they should keep it short and sweet!
liamportermedia 