A couple of weeks ago, almost on a lark, I submitted a proposal for a talk to be given at Ignite Portland 4. Ignite Portland is an event wherein 13 speakers are each given 5 minutes to talk about the subject they proposed. The trick is, each speaker has to submit exactly 20 slides which will change exactly every 15 seconds during the course of the talk. Somehow, while writing the proposal, that didn’t seem so daunting to me, especially since I didn’t think I had a chance in hell of being selected.
I began to have second thoughts the day after submission, when several people commented on twitter about how interesting they found my proposal. I’ll quote the text for you here:
Spirituality in Community: It’s not just for religion anymore:
Spirituality is a fundamental part of everything we, as humans, do. Given how much of ourselves we invest in our work lives, it’s no surprise that we derive great spiritual satisfaction and disappointment from our work and the relationships in our workplace. Yet this is an area that we rarely think about consciously when choosing a job or work situation.
In five minutes, I’ll point out ways of thinking about spiritual satisfaction that will allow us to apply them to our work lives, and how to maximize the spiritual satisfaction we derive in the course of our workdays. This includes such things as finding meaning in our work, finding meaning in the relationships in the workplace, and appreciating the challenges which face us both as part of the job and as barriers to getting our jobs done.
Now, the problem is, that I have just taken two separate topics, each of which I probably have about a book’s worth of content for, and mashed them together for a five minute talk.
- Topic 1: A new definitoin of spirituality which implies that spirituality is inherent in everything we, as human beings do.
- Topic 2: Spirituality in the workplace is good, important and very different from religion in the workplace.
0 replies on “Say Yes Now, Figure Out How Later”
You are up for the challenge. Congratulations at being chosen.
David, for what it’s worth, I’m honored to be presenting the same night as you. You’re brave to discuss often polarizing matters. And what other than polarizing matters is more important to discuss in a society in which we are increasingly joining echo chambers? Speak from both the heart and mind, and you’ll do fine. And, if some members of the audience don’t agree with you, remember, it’s not the first time a messenger has been met with opposition in the moment, yet understood later.