Ideas and Inspiration (Part Deux)

Were you in the audience? Were you inspired?

I did!   I must admit that those few moments before any speech, I still feel butterflies in the stomach.  And I remembered what I learnt from theatre, “Do it for the audience.  Appreciate their attendance, love them and you’ll be fine!”

Such an amazing turnout and appreciative audience last evening.  I must thank you, the audience, for being in attendance and being very supportive at the second edition of Ideas and Inspiration event at Lifelong Learning Institute’s Theatre, organised by Jit Puru and Company.  

For me, it was indeed an honour to be sharing the stage with such wonderful speakers, Peter Morgan, Anji Hallewell, Ori Takemura and Go Ashok Menon.  (And I must add that the rehearsals we had before this kept us bonded in the process!)

Even while waiting for my turn, I was blown away from the other speakers with their delivery and content (even though I had seen their presentations during rehearsals!), so much so that I took notes!  

Here are my take-aways from the other speakers:

1st Speaker: Peter Morgan - a retired police commissioner based in Hong Kong.  He shared 3 main key points he learnt during his time in the police force:

Look and assess situation before you take action and lead
Learn to Ask; and you shall receive
Leverage on our network while think out of the box to solve problems

2nd Speaker: Anji Hallewell - Mindfulness Coach/ Founder of Hidden Lava.  Anji highlighted that life need not be perfect, but it is important to be real.  For we can rise to our highest heights if we follow this system:

Remember:  Your journey and how far you have come
Intention: Set it right, set it straight
Stabalise:  Stay focus and on track
Engage: Execute without excuses

4th Speaker:  Ori Takemura, founder of an interaction design & game studio QIXEN-P.  Ori emphasised that designing success is akin to establishing system and taking repeatable steps.  He de-constructed the famous Why-What-How into the following formula:

(Why) x (Why) = need two strong whys to push us (internal and external motivations)
What = Be clear on the target
How = Break it down into small steps and repeat them

5th Speaker:  Go Ashokh Menon, a change agent and a certified practitioner & master facilitator of the People Centred Implementation (PCI®) methodology.  Ashokh emphasised that Leadership is not titlle, rather it is a moral duty to influence the team members.  He recommended the following to achieve positive team outcomes:

O: Oneness of workplace environment
N: Narrative change from “carrot and stick thinking-system” to ‘focusing on team members’ strengths
E:  Empathise with team members’ challenges and render assistance proactively

And, as the third speaker for the day, here was why I shared what I shared:

Along the years, I have seen many great ideas were “shot down” by other people because of their “Yes, But …”  responses.  “Yes, But” is actually a polite way to telling No to someone, thus halting that someone’s idea to grow.

In my message, I recommended the audience to make creativity a culture and to use the ‘Language’ of Creativity every time.  The Language I was referring to is using “Yes, And” (instead of “Yes, But”).  

Because, when we use “Yes, And” as part of the creativity culture, three elements are present:

A- Acceptance; Your idea, even how ridiculous it may sound, is accepted with open arms
B- Build On; Use the first idea as trigger and build on from it into an even better idea
C-Collaboration; In the process, people are more collaborative and cooperative, resulting in less conflict, more positive vibes and makes everyone adaptable to changing situations.

Hope this article is useful for you as you value add your life.

What do you think?  Would love to hear from you.


Towards your continued success,

Hazriq Idrus
Applied Creativity & Public Speaking Strategist
Author of 5 books, including "The Stage Fright Antidote"

Hazriq Idrus is a professional speaker on Applied Creativity, Creative Leadership and Creative Presentations.  Using techniques from the theatre he learnt as a stage actor, Hazriq delivers keynote talks and training programmes that are interactive and experiential in nature. He founded The Speaking Factory Pte Ltd with a mission to help people and teams innovate and communicate with impact by tapping on their inner creative genius.  Hazriq is contactable at [email protected].