WEBVTT 1 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:13.080 Welcome everyone to another episode of Train Like You Listen, a podcast about all 2 00:00:13.160 --> 00:00:17.160 things learning and development and bite size chunks. I'm Brian Washburn, I'm your 3 00:00:17.160 --> 00:00:21.320 host. I'm also the co founder of a little instructional design company called Endurance 4 00:00:21.399 --> 00:00:26.039 Learning, and the conference season is descending upon us. I wanted to spend 5 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:31.600 a little time today talking about the similarities and the differences between keynote speeches and 6 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:36.359 skill building training workshops. I also wanted to take a little time to think 7 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:42.280 about what training designers can learn from someone who actually develops keynote speeches for a 8 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:46.719 living. So it's today. I am very excited to be joined by Jessica 9 00:00:46.840 --> 00:00:53.079 Kriegel. Hi. Thanks for having me. You are highly sought after keynote 10 00:00:53.119 --> 00:01:00.799 speaker and chief scientist of Workplace Culture Culture Partners. Can you have us in 11 00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:04.239 six words? What is your story? How would you introduce yourself in six 12 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:11.599 words? Researcher, author, keynote speaker and mother all important aspects and thank 13 00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:15.599 you so much for joining. I'm excited to have this conversation. I've done 14 00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:19.159 some research in terms of who you are, but for those who are listening 15 00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:26.079 who would like to know a little bit more about how you got started speaking 16 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:30.359 to all sorts of organizations and audiences near and far. You know you're a 17 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:34.239 big deal when it comes to how organizations think about their people. How did 18 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:37.359 you get started in this in the first place. Well, thank you for 19 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:41.959 calling me a big deal. That's going to my head really quickly. But 20 00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:48.719 I started. I worked at Oracle for ten years in their organizational development department, 21 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:53.680 so I was doing culture transformation work internally with Oracle executives as my clients, 22 00:01:53.799 --> 00:02:00.280 which was just a dream job because the people there were really smart and 23 00:02:00.760 --> 00:02:05.120 working on interesting projects, and I got to help them in their talent development, 24 00:02:05.239 --> 00:02:08.759 in their organizational design, and ultimately creating culture that led to results. 25 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:13.800 While I was there, I also got to go to school where I was 26 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:19.879 doing my doctoral research on generational dynamics. Specifically, I had this idea that 27 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:23.439 I was going to crack the code on millennials and then become some famous consultant 28 00:02:23.479 --> 00:02:27.639 that would tell you how to handle millennials because I was a millennial, so 29 00:02:27.719 --> 00:02:31.439 I thought i'd get credibility pretty quickly. And as it turns out, my 30 00:02:31.560 --> 00:02:38.319 research found that all of most of at least the data quote unquote data that 31 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:44.719 we have on generational dynamics is lazy research, it's bad, it's generalizations, 32 00:02:44.840 --> 00:02:50.560 and it's all just labels that are an excuse to stereotype people. So I 33 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:55.199 started by feeling like I had discovered something in my research that people needed to 34 00:02:55.240 --> 00:03:00.400 know. I wanted people to stop using the label millennial and baby or and 35 00:03:00.439 --> 00:03:06.360 now gen Z to create distance between each other, and I needed to show 36 00:03:06.360 --> 00:03:09.360 them the evidence that it was a faulty narrative. Anyway, So I wrote 37 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:13.159 a book based on my dissertation, which I thought was going to be a 38 00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:16.840 lot easier than it was. And before the book was even published, people 39 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:22.159 started asking me to speak because everyone was interested in that. It was kind 40 00:03:22.199 --> 00:03:28.000 of a right time, right place kind of dynamic. Talking about millennials seven 41 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:31.039 years ago was all the rage. So that's where my keynote career sort of 42 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:38.680 took off. Yeah, and I think it's such a fascinating yet cringey type 43 00:03:38.719 --> 00:03:42.479 of topic to say, well, why are millennials lazy and why can't they 44 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:46.520 be more like as somebody who's in Generation X, I appreciate kind of being 45 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:52.719 left out of the disc so a lot you're not that left out. You 46 00:03:52.800 --> 00:04:00.840 guys are apparently very cynical according to all of the fake news. You know, 47 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:03.199 that's a whole other topic that I'm sure we could talk about for a 48 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:08.000 long long time, but for here. You know, lots of people listening 49 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:12.599 have been to conferences. They attend breakout workshops, and they also attend the 50 00:04:12.599 --> 00:04:15.920 general sessions and the keynotes. What would you say are some of the major 51 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:21.720 differences when it comes to what the audience can be taken away from a keynote 52 00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:26.959 session versus you know, a sixty or seventy five minute breakout session or even 53 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:31.040 like a training session in their own organizations. It seems like that sometimes people 54 00:04:31.160 --> 00:04:33.199 go in and think they're going to take the same thing away. But do 55 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:36.759 you have some thoughts in terms of what you're hoping an audience will take away 56 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:43.000 from like a keynote session versus like a training session. Yeah, there are 57 00:04:43.040 --> 00:04:46.519 some generalizations I'll have to make here because every conference is different and organized by 58 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:50.839 people with different views about what each should hold. I will tell you that 59 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:58.480 ideally, a breakout session would get into more application about the concepts that you're 60 00:04:58.600 --> 00:05:02.240 learning about, whereas a keynote session doesn't have that. And now here's how 61 00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:08.759 you can apply it in your life moment. It should have those thoughts, 62 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:13.680 It should have that contemplation that you offer to the audience to take outside of 63 00:05:13.720 --> 00:05:17.079 the keynote to go do on their own time, or even giveaways that encourage 64 00:05:17.079 --> 00:05:20.040 them. Sometimes you see the little cards that people have to fill out in 65 00:05:20.040 --> 00:05:25.160 a keynote where they can apply the lessons to their own situation. But a 66 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:30.399 breakout session really should offer time within that session. If it's seventy five minutes 67 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:32.079 or ninety minutes, there's a little bit of lecture, then there's a little 68 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:36.959 bit of now here, do this exercise and do this breakout conversation with someone 69 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:43.000 that you're sitting next to to actually apply. That's theoretically the difference. Most 70 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:46.439 of the time. In reality, what you're getting is a difference in caliber 71 00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:50.879 of speaker, because breakout sessions are you know, there's a ton of breakout 72 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:56.279 sessions at a conference and there's only let's say two or three key keynote slots. 73 00:05:56.560 --> 00:05:59.360 So that's where the conference organizers are spending a lot of money, and 74 00:05:59.399 --> 00:06:03.639 so you're getting really high caliber talent on the keynote stage, and it's the 75 00:06:03.720 --> 00:06:09.040 draw right to the conference when people see the keynote lineup that's kind of what 76 00:06:09.079 --> 00:06:12.720 they're looking at and sometimes deciding should I go to this conference or this conference 77 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:16.120 that's focused on learning, for example. And so I'm going to get back 78 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:18.720 to that in just a second, but before I get to that, I 79 00:06:18.759 --> 00:06:24.000 want to talk a little bit about this idea of organizational culture and how you 80 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:28.759 weave it in to places. So organization culture, it's your area of expertise. 81 00:06:29.240 --> 00:06:32.480 You have a short and simple culture equation, right, you say, 82 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:40.360 strategy powered by culture equals performance. What role does learning, whether that means 83 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:43.920 formal training or e learning courses, or if it simply means being able to 84 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:48.480 reflect on mistakes and receive some coaching to continue to grow. What role does 85 00:06:48.680 --> 00:06:56.959 learning play in a strong, healthy organizational culture. Great question. So let 86 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:00.519 me start by defining culture, because oftentimes when you talk to people about culture, 87 00:07:00.839 --> 00:07:03.560 I mean I talk to CEOs all year long and I asked them about 88 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:09.000 culture, and you get a thousand different answers for what even the CEO of 89 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:14.040 organizations think. It's not about the ping pong tables, it's not about happy 90 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:16.920 hours, it's not about Hawaiian shirt Fridays, as the movie office space would 91 00:07:16.920 --> 00:07:23.439 have you think. We define culture as the experiences we co create which shape 92 00:07:23.439 --> 00:07:27.759 our beliefs. Those beliefs determine our actions, and that is what's going to 93 00:07:27.800 --> 00:07:30.800 get you results, the actions that all of your employees take. So we 94 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:35.480 believe there's a direct tie from the experiences to the beliefs. Two actions, 95 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:41.759 two results. Culture drives results, period. So the role that learning plays 96 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:46.319 in culture is it is an experience, and you're going to have multiple experiences 97 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:53.680 within one training session or within your career at one organization that you see numerous 98 00:07:53.720 --> 00:07:58.399 trainings within you are exposed to many L and D opportunities or you're not, 99 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:01.519 or you're exposed to a great as learning versus a facilitator learning, or you're 100 00:08:01.560 --> 00:08:07.920 facilitated to this plethora of options to choose from where you're not given options, 101 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:13.199 right, I mean all of those decisions in an employee's L and D journey 102 00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:18.399 creates an experience for the employee that shapes their belief about how important learning is 103 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:22.120 to the organization, how important they are as an employee to the organization, 104 00:08:22.199 --> 00:08:26.279 and the extent to which the organization is willing to invest in them, and 105 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:31.279 the belief that you foster in that employee based on the L and D experiences 106 00:08:31.319 --> 00:08:35.480 they have is going to develop actions not just about what they're learning in the 107 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:39.559 training, but actions about I mean, this is really the difference between an 108 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:43.159 employee who really gives a rip about the work you're doing and who doesn't. 109 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:46.240 If I feel like you don't care about me, I'm not going to care 110 00:08:46.279 --> 00:08:50.799 about this. And so if you want people to care passionately about the work 111 00:08:50.840 --> 00:08:54.559 they're doing, and then that's going to drive results because they're more proactive, 112 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:56.200 you need to make them feel like you care, and L and D is 113 00:08:56.200 --> 00:09:01.320 a great way to do that. NET warms my art as somebody who's in 114 00:09:01.559 --> 00:09:05.080 learning and development, and I just want to take this idea and bring it 115 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:09.039 back to what you're talking about earlier in terms of the caliber of speaker that 116 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:13.960 you get when it comes to keynote speeches. I've spoken with several people who 117 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:18.600 have had to put keynote sessions together. It's definitely an art form. You 118 00:09:18.600 --> 00:09:24.759 know, these are usually the showcase elements at a conference, and the speakers 119 00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:31.200 generally strike me as incredibly polished, right and confident and with slick visuals and 120 00:09:31.559 --> 00:09:35.320 well we're her stage blocking and stage presence. A lot of people who are 121 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:41.440 listening to this podcast aren't and won't be keynote speakers, but they do design 122 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:46.120 training and need to capture their audience's attention. And I think that's something that 123 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:50.639 really good keynote speakers do. They capture the attention of the audience. What 124 00:09:50.840 --> 00:09:56.720 presentation design advice might you offer to someone listening and thinking, Look, I 125 00:09:56.799 --> 00:10:01.360 just need to put together this compliance training safety in the workplace, and I 126 00:10:01.399 --> 00:10:05.120 don't need to put together a keynote level talk, but I do need to 127 00:10:05.159 --> 00:10:09.159 engage people and have them take this topic seriously. Yeah, I mean the 128 00:10:09.240 --> 00:10:15.200 keynote speakers that are super polished developed that over years and years and years, 129 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:18.440 and they're constantly working on improving what they're doing. I mean I personally, 130 00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:24.080 on any given year in my keynote career, which started ten years ago, 131 00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:28.080 I am horrified and embarrassed about the keynote I was giving last year. I 132 00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:33.039 mean, it's all right now, I'm embarrassed about the keynotes I was giving 133 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:35.399 last year, and next year I'll be embarrassed about the keynotes I'm giving now. 134 00:10:35.639 --> 00:10:41.120 Because it's constant process improvement and there's so much to work on in a 135 00:10:41.240 --> 00:10:43.759 keynote, and I would imagine it's the same. Well, I know it's 136 00:10:43.799 --> 00:10:46.720 the same. I was doing training an L and D and my very first 137 00:10:46.759 --> 00:10:50.840 job out of my MBA for to Lao, I was a training consultant and 138 00:10:50.360 --> 00:10:56.559 it was the same thing. It was the practice of not just how to 139 00:10:56.559 --> 00:10:58.799 command a room and facilitate, how to gauge when people are losing in, 140 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:05.480 but also how to land the jokes that you know land and practicing your timing 141 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:11.000 on things. The key, in my opinion, to any great learning is 142 00:11:11.159 --> 00:11:18.840 storytelling and understanding how to present concepts in a framework that are simple to understand, 143 00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:24.559 and then to tell that story that helps really land the framework and make 144 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:28.559 it memorable for someone Because we learn in stories. We are storytellers as people. 145 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:33.360 That's always how we've processed information, and so understanding the right story to 146 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:37.879 tell the message that you're trying to let the audience walk away with is probably 147 00:11:37.879 --> 00:11:41.159 the number one tip I would give. I love that tip, and so 148 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:43.960 it's something that a lot of times people will come to me and say, 149 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:48.000 well, we have to deliver this training as it's written. Somebody else wrote 150 00:11:48.039 --> 00:11:50.360 it. We have to deliver it as it's written. How do we make 151 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:54.399 it our own and storytelling is always the thing that I say is you know, 152 00:11:56.080 --> 00:11:58.679 deliver it is written. If you have a story to help illustrate some 153 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:03.480 of the concepts or some of the topics, put it in there and that 154 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:07.840 will allow you to actually have some ownership over that as well. Jessica, 155 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:11.240 thank you so much for giving us some time. If people wanted to find 156 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:15.440 out more about you about your work with culture, or if they wanted to 157 00:12:15.480 --> 00:12:16.799 reach out to you and say, hey, we'd love to have you come 158 00:12:16.919 --> 00:12:20.360 speak at our organization, how can they find you? You can find me 159 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:24.120 on LinkedIn. I also have a weekly newsletter called This Weekend Culture, which 160 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:28.919 you can subscribe to to get any information that we're sharing at the time. 161 00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:33.360 But Culture partners website is culture dot io and you can find out information about 162 00:12:33.399 --> 00:12:37.480 me as a speaker, the other speakers that work with us, and anything 163 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:41.720 around organizational culture. Thank you so much for giving me some time. Thank 164 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:45.440 you everyone else for listening. If you know somebody who might find today's topic 165 00:12:45.559 --> 00:12:48.679 about comparing keynotes of skill building sessions to be valuable, please do pass a 166 00:12:48.759 --> 00:12:52.919 link to this along. If you want to make sure that you are notified 167 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:56.240 of a new podcast anytime it's hot off the press. Go ahead and subscribe 168 00:12:56.240 --> 00:13:00.480 at Apple or Spotify, wherever you listen to your podcast. And if you're 169 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:03.960 interested in learning more about a broad range of learning and development strategies, you 170 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:07.759 can pick up a copy of my book What's Your Formula? Combined learning elements 171 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:13.200 from Factful Training at Amazon dot com. Until next time, happy training everyone. 172 00:13:13.639 --> 00:13:18.799 This week's podcast is sponsored by Soapbox. Sign up today for free demo 173 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:30.480 at soapboxofly dot com.