Engaging an audience and helping them to change

Evolving Enterprises: Stories of Growth Transformation

Today I am immensely pleased to introduce Ruby Lyon a famous actress on stage and the small screen. Ruby was a core cast member of the popular New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street, playing the role of Ashley Whitley.

Moving organisations forward involves changing people’s view of a situation. This is exactly what an actor does – during a performance the actor engages us and we journey with them through a play or a production. We all have to win people over, we all have to present and pitch for things, and so we all need a bit of the craft of an actor.

Ruby talks about how to engaging an audience through a camera and in a theatre - speaking directly to one person is important and getting the audience to see you as a person. Confidence is so essential in building that relationship with an audience. Ruby talks about how to ensure that the audience feel that they can trust you and how important preparation is. Whether we present something that is well scripted, or we ad lib at bit, having material that we have rehearsed to fall back on is essential to maintaining confidence. Confidence is one of the most important ingredients for success. Ruby talks about the balance between craft and truth. At any moment we need to be fully engaged in the part we are playing, but also we need to develop awareness of how we are perceived by the audience or the camera. Maintaining that awareness will help us to deliver the best presentation possible.

If we can present well then we can encourage others to work with us and learn from us. This learning is a vital part of the holistic approach to enhancing organisations.

Systems thinking and holistic approaches will help us find what could be done to improve an organisation. Encouraging stakeholders to activate an improvement plan is done through learning journeys, and these are only possible if we can engage our audience – a company board or a group of key stakeholders.