Written By:
Sarah Swainson
Thought leadership. In a world overflowing with content, podcasts, videos and opinions, creating more noise is easy. Creating value for your audience is far more important.
Find your message.
Find your voice.
Find your platform.
Jonathan Oliff, Co-Founder at Tim.africa, opened our August PSASA KZN Chapter Meeting by describing an “average” winter’s morning in the Drakensberg that turned into a mortality check. Anyone who has spent time in these mighty mountains knows there is nothing average about them.
Hidden in the grass was a puff adder. Patient. Camouflaged. Dangerous. It struck, and within moments Jonathan’s hike became a rescue mission. As he fought to get off the mountain, one thought consumed him.
“Get to reception.”
Simply to tell his wife, “I love you.”
Later, while being rescued on horseback, two messages kept crystallising in his mind.
I’m sorry.
I love you.
These simple statements strip away the noise and leave only the signal. Ironically, that became the perfect foundation for a conversation about modern thought leadership.
Signal Over Noise
Jonathan challenged us to think differently about podcasting and how speakers can use it to make an impact. It can become a powerful platform to amplify our message while creating valuable content that can be repurposed across multiple platforms.
In a world overflowing with content, podcasts, videos and opinions, creating more noise is easy. Creating value and signal is far more important.
His advice was refreshingly practical. Build a workflow that allows ideas to move quickly into action. As audiences increasingly move towards visual content, clarity matters more than the volume of content.
Jonathan also claimed that his superpower is awkwardness, which led to the final piece of his story.
He shared the story of meeting Bryan Habana at an airport on one of the worst days of his life. The encounter didn’t go as planned. Many of us would have left it there and cringed about it for hours.
Instead, Jonathan later wrote to Bryan simply to say thank you for making a horrendous day so much better.
It completed the trio of words that mattered most to him.
I’m sorry.
I love you.
Thank you.
Perhaps the reminder is that these three phrases are not just words we reserve for life’s biggest moments. They are words we should use far more often.
Through the Waves
The evening also gave us the opportunity to reflect on highlights from the recent PSASA Annual Convention, Through the Waves. Congratulations to the KZN team for producing such an intimate and memorable convention.
Those who attended spoke about the authenticity of the speakers, the generosity with which ideas were shared, and the practical advice that could immediately be applied to building a speaking business.
The Speaker Factor experience once again demonstrated the depth of upcoming talent within our profession.
One phrase surfaced repeatedly throughout the convention.
Be relentlessly relevant.
It felt like the perfect companion to Jonathan’s message.
As I reflected on the evening, I couldn’t help but wonder if every thought leader should ask themselves four simple questions.
What are your key messages?
Will you say them?
Will you say them in your voice?
And will you give them somewhere to travel?
