I think corporate presentations have to be
boring and not the way we do them.
Here are two of our recent Thought Leader
Academy grads share versions of their new
signature talks on this episode of the
Speaking Your Brand podcast.
More and more women are making an impact by
starting businesses, running for office and
speaking up for what matters.
With my background as a TV political analyst,
entrepreneur, and speaker,
I interview and coach purpose driven women to
shape their brands, grow their companies,
and become recognized as influencers in their
field. This is speaking your brand,
your place to learn how to persuasively
communicate your message to your audience.
Welcome everyone to backstage at Speaking
Your Brand. I'm Diane Diaz,
lead speaking coach at Speaking Your Brand.
Yesterday, you had the opportunity to hear
from three of our recent Thought Leader
Academy graduates. And today I am super
excited to bring you two more graduates from
our recent Thought Leader Academy program.
They are going to share with you for the very
first time, live anywhere.
The first ten minutes of their talk that they
worked on with us during their time in the
Thought Leader Academy.
You know, I often hear from women that I meet
that I chat with that either they'll either
say I'm not really a speaker because they
only speak internally to their teams,
or that since they are speaking on behalf of
the corporation they work for,
that their personal story shouldn't really be
part of that. And like, why would I include
my personal story? Well,
today you're in for a treat because our
thought leader Academy grads are going to
share with you their talks that not only
incorporate personal stories,
but also are for speaking that they're doing
internally to teams.
And so you'll see how you can use the
framework that we use to create talks,
whether you're speaking inside your company
to internal teams, outside,
at conferences, to small groups or wherever.
But these talks work for all those different
types of audiences, so you are in for a real
treat today. Now, as you watch our Thought
Leader Academy grads deliver their talks,
look for the stories, listen for how they are
using frameworks and just how they're
generally delivering the message that really
resonates with an audience to move them to
action. All right, so let me introduce who we
have here with us today.
First we have, um, Denise,
go get my tongue together where I can speak.
We have Denise Cardenas Lopez and Denise is a
technology and innovation executive.
And then we have doctor Bonnie Boles,
who is senior vice president and chief
medical information officer at Tanner health.
Now, I will first welcome to the stage
doctor, Bonnie Boles.
Bonnie, take it away.
Thanks, Diane. It's great to be here.
Today I'm going to talk about a feeling that
most of us are experiencing.
And that's a feeling of being completely
overwhelmed by new technology.
At the same time that we're completely
overwhelmed. A lot of us are very excited
about new technology.
All of the new technology coming to us today
has artificial intelligence.
So we're going to talk about breathe,
slow down beta, start small and build.
Build your team so that you can successfully
address all the new technology.
And if you're worried about AI taking your
job, we're going to hear a story about robots
getting the pink slip.
I'm Bonnie Boles, chief medical information
officer at Tanner health.
We go by the acronym CMI.
And if you're wondering what a cameo does.
You're not alone.
My parents wonder what a CMO does.
They said, wait, you went to medical school?
And what are you doing now?
You aren't really seeing patients.
So this is a role that is a liaison or a
bridge between health care information
technology and the clinical world.
And as a medical doctor,
we know the clinical side.
As a CMO, we learn and have help with our
teams on the technology side,
and we try to bridge that gap.
So I'm going to share principles that I've
learned, making the transition from an ICU
doctor to a healthcare technology worker,
because in the ICU, there's no time to go to
the bathroom, much less breathe.
There's no time to beta.
There's no time to build teams and consensus.
You have to take care of patients in the
moment and what's right there in front of
you. So I hope that sharing three principles
and lessons learned will help you when you
are addressing the onslaught of new
technology. So many of you are familiar with
the Roger innovation.
Roger's innovation adoption curve.
And it's fascinating that the smallest
percentage. Is innovators and early adopters.
And then equal to those two groups are the
laggards. And crossing that chasm between
innovation and early adopters to get your
majority buying in a new technology can be
super challenging.
And then the laggards often are thought to be
a completely lost cause.
I myself must confess that I was a laggard.
But more about that later.
We're going to get to principle number one.
And that is slow down to go fast.
We know the story of the tortoise and the
hare and we know how that turned out.
Slowing down the go fast allows you to really
think about and address the problem that
you're trying to solve,
and sometimes, more importantly,
to look at the resources that you have to
solve that problem.
And often during this phase of looking at new
technology, we have to tell our teams.
The answer is not no.
We don't want you to implement that new
technology or have that.
The answer is yes.
Comma. Yes.
Comma. If yes.
If we have the resources or yes.
Comma. When when we finish the other 15
projects that we have going on right now.
Because sometimes going fast is a recipe for
failure. So I'm going to tell a story about
my mom that I hope ties in that principle of
slowing down to go fast.
Does anybody remember this hungry,
hungry Hippo game?
I may be aging myself,
but this was a game that we like to play.
You press that lever and advance the mouth of
the hippo to try to grab those marbles.
Well, little did I know,
until my niece had a graduation party and my
sister thought it would be a great idea to do
this. There is an adult version of the
Hungry, Hungry Hippo game.
It's a giant inflatable.
And adults actually strap themselves to a
bungee type cord and run out and try to get
to the center of that giant inflatable and
grab those marbles or the little balls to win
the game. It's quite challenging,
and the bungee cord is pulling you back and
you're bumping into one another.
My mom is the joy of our family,
the glue that holds our family together.
She rides bikes with her grandkids,
plays basketball, gets on the floor with her
great grandkids.
The hungry, hungry hippo, however, was a
little challenging.
Mom decided she wanted to play,
had a great time, but towards the end of the
game she experienced a knee injury,
so that sidelined her mom.
And this is where she ended up in a hospital
bed after a knee replacement for underlying
arthritis. That the injury just really
highlighted. So the good news is because of
the great shape that my mom was in.
She did well with surgery.
She did so well with recovery.
She was up and ambulatory after surgery.
She passed all the milestones to be
discharged home.
The bad news was the nurses who were very,
very busy were not able to discharge her.
They came and told her they had the discharge
order. They were ready to send her home,
but they needed to go at MIT.
A couple of patients who had been waiting,
and it would take at least two hours or more.
So my mom looked very discouraged.
The whole family was upset because everyone
is more comfortable at home.
But the nurse said, you can go home.
If yes, you can go home,
comma, if you'll let our virtual nurses do
your discharge. My mom said absolutely.
Bring it on. Let's do it.
So the screen in her room became a two way
video audio, and the virtual nurse went over
my mom's surgery, her post-op course,
the expectations, her physical therapy plan
and follow up, her medications,
her new medications.
And my mom was discharged in less than 30
minutes. This highlighted to me the just the
epitome of innovation,
making a huge difference for patients and for
the nursing staff.
Now, the sad thing is that I realized that
the nurses at Tanner health,
where I work, have been begging for this
technology they wanted implemented yesterday,
but we currently don't have the resources and
the staff to successfully implement this
because of all the other competing projects.
So what I have learned to continue to
leverage the technology and keep the team
excited about what's coming is to teach them
about slowing down to go fast and
understanding that while we have a problem
we're trying to solve, and that is
discharging patients in a timely manner.
We aren't quite there yet with the resources.
In addition to the influencers and champions,
which is principal we get to later.
So slowing down to go fast is the first
lesson learned. The second lesson is start
with a pilot.
Start small beta something.
Start with a pilot.
Pilot don't plunge is what I like to tell the
team. There are a lot of pilots happening in
healthcare with new technology.
There are a lot of robotic things happening,
and there are robots and hospitals that are
being deployed to deliver supplies,
deliver blood, deliver telemetry boxes,
deliver labs to the lab,
medications to the bedside,
keeping the nurse at the bedside,
hospital robots and one health system save
the staff 14 million steps over a year.
But those kinds of technologies need to be
piloted so that they can be tweaked and
improved. Because what you don't want to
happen is for a robot to go rogue in real
time. So there was a large health care system
with 19 floors and 90 robots,
and their robots had a traffic jam trying to
get in the elevator, and they all came to a
complete standstill.
The good news is this was a pilot before the
hospital was occupied.
So by the time the hospital opened and they
actually had patients and staff,
they had worked out those problems with the
robots. Not so much for a hotel in Nagasaki,
Japan. The Han Na Hotel,
which translation means strange hotel.
They had robots checking guests in,
taking their information.
They even had robots that were concierges
that would respond to the guest requests,
that would deliver things to the rooms,
help get the luggage to the rooms.
But what they found was those concierge
robots mistook snoring for a cry for help or
a security problem, and they banged on the
door in the middle of the night,
waking guests up because of the snoring.
And so this pilot, this was not piloted.
If they piloted these robots,
they may have avoided that problem by
realizing the robots needed to be
reprogrammed.
Not to think that snoring was a call for
help. So those robots got the pink slip.
So the second principle is start with the
pilot. The third principle is find your
influencers and champions.
And remember, I told you that I must confess
that I was a laggard AI when we went from
paper to the electronic medical record.
Years ago, I was not very happy with that and
did not want to participate.
This was not me on the left.
I was not a happy camper.
I am the doctor on the right that wanted to
throw the whole kit and caboodle out the
window. In fact, the person that was trying
to help me and train me told me that if she
heard one more cuss word come out of my
mouth, she was going to call my mother.
So much. To my complete surprise and
amazement, I was asked to be the physician
champion for the transition from paper to the
electronic health record.
And you can imagine that I said,
you have got to be kidding me,
I hate this.
But thinking back to the innovation adoption
curve, the goal is to take some of those
laggards and make them your champions.
If you can get those to be your influencers
and combine them with your early adopters and
innovators, you're going to win over that
majority much more easily.
And more importantly, you're going to pull
those laggards along.
So there is hope for laggards.
I am living proof that there is hope for
laggards. So your call to action,
when faced with this new technology that
we're all being bombarded with,
is breathe.
Slow down to go fast.
Beta pilot.
Don't plunge. Build.
Find your influencers,
your champions.
And those are the people that will help you
take that pilot to the next level for a
successful implementation,
and then for successful scaling of whatever
new technology that you're looking to
implement. And whatever you do,
don't stay at a hotel with robots that are
concierges until you find the answer to the
question whether they think snoring should be
extinguished. And watch yourself on adult
hungry, Hungry Hippos,
because those are a recipe for knee injuries.
Thank you.
Oh my gosh Bonnie, that was fan tastic.
And I noted I will not be playing hungry
Adult Hungry Hungry Hippo because I don't
need a knee injury. That was so good.
How did that feel for you?
I feel great.
Good, good. And, uh, I know you said at the
beginning that you were a little bit nervous,
but that did not come through at all.
How did it did it feel nervous,
or did you feel confident or how did.
What are your thoughts?
Um, I think once I get past the first few
sentences, then I don't feel nervous.
But there's a little bit of a brain block
with the first few sentences like, wait,
what was I? Why? How did I want to open?
I practiced this, I know this,
but once that hurdle is overcome,
then the rest of it was I felt less nervous.
Yes, I.
Think, I think.
Yeah. Go ahead.
I think I talk really fast also.
So I was really trying not to talk so fast.
I got great advice from my team.
I practiced with my team and they said,
hey, look at your look at your first
principal. I said, what do you mean? They
said, breathe. You're not breathing.
So that was great advice.
That is such good advice.
Well, you definitely implemented it because I
didn't. I felt like you had exactly the right
pacing. So I know most of us,
it's a really good point because most of us
have a tendency to speak really quickly.
I think because we are a little bit nervous
and then we just rush through it.
But you really pause in the right places and
you took your time and let the stories
unfold, and you did a great job.
It looks like you have some fans watching.
So wonderful, wonderful doctor B,
fantastic job from Ty N Davis.
So I don't know if any of these names are
familiar. Yeah. So, uh,
Mau Mau is on.
She said fantastic presentation.
Carol's on. She said.
That was awesome, Bonnie.
So well done.
So we'll get to some more questions for you
in just a minute. So sit tight.
Now we're going to welcome to the stage
Denise Cardenas Lopez,
go ahead and take it away Denise.
Thank you Diane.
It is great to be here and sharing for the
first time part of my talk.
So I want to start today by introducing you
to three figures.
You might not recognize them from their
silhouettes or even their names Tabatha,
Tabatha Babbitt, Mary Anderson,
and Josephine Cochran.
They didn't wait for permission to innovate.
They didn't wait for the perfect conditions
they observed.
They acted.
They changed the world in their own way.
We will come back to them later,
but they represent what I'm about to share.
They saw problems differently.
And this is how we solve big challenges.
Not with the perfect plan,
but with someone who dares to see the problem
differently. Someone who asks what if this
could be better?
And that question and that curiosity is where
innovation begins.
It is a question every one of us can ask.
And when I think about the courage to
challenge the status quo,
I am reminded that even today,
many of us working in energy and nuclear are
still misunderstood.
And it is still amazes me how different the
perception is from the reality.
So when people hear that I work in nuclear,
the reactions are priceless.
Some friends think that I am a mad scientist.
Is sparks flying everywhere in a secret love?
My kids, they imagine I am a superhero,
scientist and engineer,
saving the world one atom at a time.
And some people they imagine.
I spend my days next to a giant red button
mark. Do not press or perhaps glowing in the
dark at night.
But the truth is, just like these pioneering
women, that the work that we do is far more
powerful and much more human.
We solve problems that matter.
We work with complexity and we are building
the future. And I have seen that up close.
Over the last 20 years,
I have led teams through major engineering
programs working on highly regulated
industry, not just building capability,
but building people.
Today, I serve as Vice President for a
strategic capability and integrated delivery
at momentum, which means I help shape how we
grow talent, how we connect technical
expertise and deliver with purpose across our
international programs.
So what I'm sharing today,
although, will be a simple Concept.
It is built on lessons that come from leading
in with complexity.
And of course, the challenges that we face
are in small.
So across the world we are struggling to
solve what is not known as the energy
trilemma, which is how do we deliver energy
that is secured, that is sustainable and that
is equitable all at once.
So energy security means know that we have
the lights on even when the demand on energy
is high, or at times that are uncertain.
Sustainability means using resources wisely
and protecting the planet for future
generations, and equity means making sure
everyone, not just the wealthiest or most
developed, can access clean, reliable energy.
So balancing all those three is not just a
technical challenge is a leadership
challenge. And this is why this concept of
the power trio comes in and in all the
challenges I have worked on,
one thing has become crystal clear as that
within the energy industry engineering
industry, we do not lack ambition,
but we often lack is an integrated approach
and that is the shift that we need to make.
So in 2020, as I work major projects and I
led teams through very complex,
complex change and including the pandemic
pandemic, I felt the need to create a model
that could help us think and grow and lead
differently. And that is how the SSIS model
or the power trio of growth and economic
impact was born and is built on three
essential lenses sustainability,
innovation and UN skills.
So in ways that they are collaborative and so
that we integrate value that lasts.
I will take you today through the first
pillar and maybe a high level on the second
pillar as well.
So sustainability is just not only about the
climate targets and carbon reduction,
which is really important.
It is that I add a different or an additional
lens. One is building sustainable careers
where people can grow,
where they can thrive and feel that their
work matters.
It is about sustainable organizations.
So one that ones that give more,
that they take and that contribute to their
communities and the broader economy.
And yes, it is about a sustainable planet
where our innovation support that
environmental restoration and not just
efficiency. So one of the moments that really
cemented for me the importance of what I now
call the Power trio, was a project that I led
to secure a nuclear site license for our
waste processing facility,
and for those outside the nuclear sector.
Asi license is a government approval,
a legal approval that allows a nuclear
facility to operate and is really complex,
multiple stakeholders.
But it is about trust to bring all these
people together and the challenges that that
come with that.
It is about national security and the long
term impact. And this was the first time in
over 15 years that a license had been granted
for an operational nuclear site in the UK.
So through that experience,
I really saw how powerful this power trio is,
embedding sustainability not only to manage
that risk, but really connect with the work
with the community.
That was extremely important.
All the stakeholders but the community and
the people, it was really at the center of
it. Then we applied innovation and navigating
that challenging regulation,
and we also invested in the skills,
created local jobs, build internal capability
and preparing people to operate this new
site. So we deliver great measure,
like a great value, measurable value to the
UK taxpayer.
We secure long term national capability,
and we enable the business also to grow with
confidence. And this idea of the long term
integrated impact is really important.
So we have a global responsibility.
And as Damilola Ogunyemi,
CEO of Sustainable Energy for all,
remind us, developed countries must do more
to support emerging economies on the path to
a greener future.
And that is exactly where this model or or
this model of growth and economic impact
matters. Because when we lead through that
lens, we deliver that value that is shared,
that is a skill and can be lasting.
The second pillar, I won't go in in deep,
but it is innovation.
And innovation is not always about the
breakthrough inventions or the newest tools.
It's about the courage to see things
differently, to be curious.
And it starts with observation.
It goes through creation,
looking for better processes,
new ways of working and and succeeds through
collaboration.
But more than the technology is about the
mindset as well.
And that is how we accelerate progress.
I wanted to share with you just a little bit
about a little bit about the technology I.
These are here the next generation nuclear
technologies that they are designed to be
smaller, safer and more flexible so we can
bring clean energy to more places faster.
And the teams that I lead are actively
involved in these advancements.
There is I also have doctor.
I can't see her name right now and it escapes
me. But our biggest challenge,
she's a former secretary in working with Doe
in the US. And she reminds us that right now,
our biggest single source of clean
electricity in this country is nuclear.
And this is not the case only in the US,
but in countries like the UK.
So this is model coming back to this model.
There are three parts or three legs of this
framework. And if one leg is missing,
the whole structure becomes unstable.
But if we think about them together,
we can create some something that Stan can
stand the test of time.
So now I want to.
I want you to imagine the future where every
home has access to clean,
affordable energy no matter where you live or
what you wear.
Your postcode is how we say in the UK.
Imagine a workforce where young people,
especially girls, see engineering and science
not as a distant career but as a place where
they belong and they can thrive and imagine
decisions made today by governments,
by business and leaders that don't just solve
short term problems, but look at a safer
planet and fair planet for the next
generation. So there is two simple actions I
love for you, our audience,
to take first in the next 48 hours.
Have a conversation with someone,
a colleague, a friend,
your child about the kind of legacy you want
to leave, and I want you to name it and own
it. And the second action is to take one
challenge you are facing.
Big or small, and apply this power through
your lens to it.
It can be in your home or can be in your
work. Where is the sustainability gap?
Where might there be an innovation blind
spot? And is there a skills opportunity for
you or for someone around you?
And sometimes the shift to start with just
asking better questions.
So now I want to go back where we started.
Do we know these women?
So Tabatha Babbitt, some men wasting effort.
She saw the two To my two men.
So only going in one direction.
So invented. She invented a circular saw.
Mary Anderson watched drivers struggle in the
rain. So she created the windshield wiper and
Josephine Cochran.
So dishes being chipped and built the
dishwasher. So they simply saw something that
wasn't working and believed it could be
better. And now we face that same kind of
challenge because we need energy that is
clean, reliable and fair,
and people are right to ask questions.
Nuclear can feel distant and sometimes even
scary. But the truth is,
we need a stable, low carbon energy source
that works and nuclear can give us that
backbone. And while I speak from nuclear in
this talk, because I work in this sector and
we needed this lens of the power trio can be
applied anywhere.
So sustainability, innovation and skills are
not just for engineers.
So for scientists they are how we move
forward in any sector,
any system, any challenge.
Because in a world that is fast moving,
interconnected, uncertain us today,
these aren't just good ideas.
They are how we need to to lead,
how we build, and how we shape what is next
together. So thank you very much for
listening. And if the message resonated with
you, and if you are leading change or you
want to know more about nuclear or simply
questioning how you can do things better,
I will love to connect.
Thank you.
Oh, Denise, that was so good,
I was riveted.
I love all the facts that you included.
They support what you were talking about and
then the stories were good as well.
How did it feel for you?
Thank you. It feel good,
I try to adopt it at the last minute just to
share more relevant or give a little bit of
more information to our audience.
As the talk was intended for women in
nuclear, the examples can be personal but are
also more technical.
So yes, I am very pleased to have the
opportunity to share with you.
Yeah, good. Well, you did great and both of
you did amazingly.
Um, so let's go into our our roundtable
discussion and I want to pose some questions
to you now. We'll start with you,
Denise. You just mentioned that you would
adapted your talk for a more,
let's say, generic audience versus
specifically towards women and nuclear.
And that's the beauty of this signature talk
framework that we use to create your talk.
So, um, how did it feel you and I actually
worked together? Uh, I don't even remember
how long ago it was now,
but. So we worked together in a VIP day.
On your talk.
And you did create it with a specific
audience in mind, which was women in nuclear
and I believe. Have you given this talk?
I think you have. Yes.
No, I will do it in July.
We initially so going through the VIP was
fantastic. And we originally,
if you remember, because it was a while ago
we create I wanted to create a talk for women
in senior leadership because of the lack of
diversity in decision making.
And as we talk, I talk about this framework
that I had created and what we what you
convinced me and what we decided really,
is that any other talks and the work that I
do is at the intersectionality of
sustainability and innovation and skills and
that any other talk could really fall from
that framework. And I'm very pleased because
I was encouraged by you to apply to speak,
and I got accepted to deliberate.
And so for everybody watching,
that is the power of applying.
You will never know if you don't just do it.
And so when you especially when you work with
us at speaking your brand,
we are always going to push you to apply for
those things, even if you don't think you'll
get it. Because this is what can happen is
you actually find out,
oh, we actually do want you to come speak to
us. So that's fantastic.
Um, now, Bonnie, I know that you have spoken.
I believe now you worked with Carol.
Of course, uh, on that talk.
But I think you gave that talk internally.
Did you? Yes. And tell me,
how did that go?
Uh, it went well. I got great feedback,
and it was to a large group of nurses,
and I think it was I've given a lot of talks
over my career at Tanner,
and I think it was one of the top 2 or 3
talks just felt more natural,
and the framework really helped a lot.
And it was fun to tell more personal stories
and be a little more vulnerable.
And I think it kept everyone's attention
better.
Yes, I love that. I'm glad you mentioned
that, because my my next question was going
to be about these stories,
because I know that it can feel, especially
when we're giving talks internally to a team
for a company that we work for,
but also for speaking at a conference.
It can feel weird to incorporate personal
stories into something that's more a
professional setting.
But. So, Bonnie, when you worked with Carol,
I know she she, of course,
you know, made sure and encouraged you to
include personal stories.
Did it feel strange at first?
Did you? Were you unsure about it?
What was. What were you thinking?
Yeah. Great question. It did feel strange at
first. And, um, but, you know,
the the VIP day was, as you all pointed out,
the time flew by and it was just fascinating
to just have a conversation with Carol and
then have her come up with a framework for a
talk. To the point that I said,
oh, wow. Could you just please give my talk?
So, um, yes, it feels a little strange at
first, but then as I saw my classmates doing
it and I realized how relevant it was to the
topic I was talking about,
then it just felt natural.
And then the more we've practiced,
and the more tips and tricks you all have
given us, it just got easier.
And now it feels like,
how could you not? Because it really captures
the audience's attention.
You can see when they're on their cell phones
and they're not really paying attention. And
when you're telling those stories,
that is typically not the case.
They're riveted by those personal stories.
Absolutely, absolutely.
Denise, did you find the same is the sort of
like, well, I don't know about including
personal stories in a talk for a conference.
That's kind of weird. What were your thoughts
around doing that?
Yes, I think that is.
It is something that it has been a challenge
for me and but I have absolutely loved it.
And that's one of the reasons that I wanted
to come into the Leader Academy was to
connect more with the teams.
And now I we have a suite of the beauty of
the process is that you have an opportunity
to think about those stories and how you can
really apply them through different talks.
And I had an opportunity as well through us,
through the process to do a talk that was
more personal and that was really beautiful.
Yes, I.
Remember that was.
Well, now that you mentioned that if you
maybe just tell us a little bit about because
I remember when that came up and that was
actually to a very large group,
but it was a very, very personal story. So
tell us a little bit about that.
Yes. So I wrote a LinkedIn post on Women's
Day and it was very personal.
It was about my story.
Growing up with my mom and my mom's story of
resilience and how she has so she didn't have
anything on how she really was a role model
building her own path.
She was a role model for me and how she
shaped my leadership. But really where I
focus on was on highlighting and celebrating
celebrating those unsung heroes in our lives.
And that was in front of us for our division,
which is around 7000 people.
And I had live around 1000 people,
but people can watch it then after.
But I had great feedback and it felt really
powerful. It was the first time that I shared
something so personal to a big audience.
Yes, and I remember when that came.
Oh, yes. Of course. I remember when that came
up, because you had made that post and then
you were in the Thought Leader Academy, and
then you reached out and you said, hey, I
have this opportunity. And so Carol and I
both sort of encouraged you around this,
you know, idea of sharing that more personal
message. And then you crafted something which
was phenomenal because,
of course, you know, you already sort of
understood how to put something together from
going through the Thought Leader Academy. And
it was so fantastic.
So and these are the types of things that
once you once you have this,
this signature talk framework that you can
use, you can it's so much easier to create
something on the fly like that when you maybe
you don't have a lot of time,
but you need to put something together that's
very impactful and very connecting.
And then you can use the framework and
structure something and then really flesh it
out and make it make it impactful,
you know, and make it work for whatever the
setting is. And as you both know,
you can take your talk and adjust it for
different audiences, make it work for
different time constraints.
So the talks you all gave today are really,
I would say, 30 to 40 minute talks,
but then you paired them down and structured
them for this smaller time frame,
which is like around ten minutes.
But that's easier to do because you've got it
in a structure using that signature talk
framework. And it worked beautifully because
you both did a fantastic job.
So kudos to you.
Um, so tell tell me a little bit about your
experience with the Thought Leader Academy.
How I know, I know, sometimes we'll get
clients who especially,
um, from corporate settings where they might
say, oh, you know, I just want to work on my
talk and I'm not sure about a group program
or, you know, I really just I'm not good
working in a group setting.
Or what are your thoughts on the experience
with the other women in the group getting
feedback also from them?
How did that feel? I'll start with you,
Bonnie.
Sure. Yeah, another great question.
Um, getting feedback from a group of women
that you have, um, shared stories with.
It was easy.
Really? Um, it's not like getting feedback
from, you know, your audience or your your
peers at work. It's a group of women that
don't really know you.
So you're a blank slate,
and you can talk about your trials and
tribulations of former talks and how things
went well and didn't go well.
And it's, uh, non-biased kind of response.
And it's easier to take feedback,
I think, in that setting than it is from
peers or colleagues that that know you well.
It just makes you more nervous.
I think it took that layer away.
So it's you're less nervous.
You just put it out there.
Take the feedback.
I know, and one of the practice sessions,
I really got frustrated.
And just hearing the encouragement and the,
you know, just wait, start over.
It's okay. Uh, was super helpful.
So it was a great experience.
Oh, good. I'm so glad to hear that because,
you know, it is a it's a,
you know, everybody in there is learning.
Right. And so yes, mistakes happen.
Or maybe you're not comfortable with some
topic or you're not quite sure how to address
it. And someone in the group has some other
experience that you can benefit from having
their feedback or hearing their story. And
then you pick up those little nuggets and
then incorporate them into what you're doing.
And it can be it's it's a safe space.
And, Denise, what are your thoughts on that?
How did it feel for you to have feedback from
the other women?
I love to be in the group,
and I think the space that you and Carol have
put together with amazing women doing this
together is really inspiring.
And having that container,
a safe container, and I think courageous is
courage is contagious.
And that's how I feel because we will end
every story that was shared.
It just gave us more confidence.
And I could see we had incredible
storytellers as well in the group.
But it was incredible and it was very
inspiring for me.
Good, good. I'm so glad to hear that.
I love these groups, and I think probably for
me, and also I can probably speak for Carol
on this. Watching the dynamic form between
the women in the group is one of the most
joyful things that we see,
because it's just highlights the supportive
nature of groups like this and working
together and sort of, you know,
although you work in the VIP day with us
individually, you're sort of crowdsourcing
the experience together and sharing with one
another, and that is just one of the most
beautiful things that we see how everybody
grows together and makes it a safe space for
each other. And so it is just as exciting and
joyful for Carol and me as it is probably for
you all to be in it. So we love it.
Um, well, I will ask you then,
um, what is next for each of you on the
speaking scene?
Denise, I know you have something coming up.
Exciting.
Yes. So I have the make the talk in July.
But for me, I want to be able to expand my
thought leadership. I have been focusing on
writing before, so I want to really exercise
this muscle and participate in and take up
the stage in the nuclear industry,
but beyond the nuclear and engineering
sectors, and continue to develop the power
trio framework and continue to have
conversations at a board level and help shape
decisions that shape the future and
participate in talks.
So I have been given a challenge by you to
get out of my comfort zone,
and I'm looking forward to that journey.
Yes we will. I'm glad to hear that.
So Carol and I are notorious for if we even
hear of one little inkling of,
oh, I think I might, we're like, okay, here's
your homework and we'll give you a challenge
to do something. So And if you ever express,
if anybody ever expresses an interest in
something to us, we will give you homework
that you then have to go do so.
So I'm glad to hear that you're interested to
do that. And I really think that for both of
you, you know, your messages are you know,
you crafted them specific to an audience,
but you can see that they they have universal
appeal in the the underlying message within
each talk. And so you can definitely each of
you go out and talk beyond sort of the scope
of what it is that you do in your jobs.
And so I love to see.
I'd love to see each of you doing that.
Bonnie, what is next for you for speaking?
Uh, next week I'll be participating in a
webinar with one of our innovation vendors.
So I'm excited about that.
And then we're already planning next year.
Uh, we're going to host an innovation summit
here at Tanner health. So I hope to have a
great talk on healthcare innovation,
uh, that I can deliver at that.
And that'll be a regional meeting.
So that's something that That's exciting.
And will that be just for Tanner or outside?
Outside of Tanner?
Outside in the region and some.
Yeah, it'll be a regional.
Yes.
That's exciting.
Well, you'll have to keep us posted on that.
Um, and I would just suggest to both of you,
because I think you're both capable of doing
this. Just consider maybe a Ted talk is in
your future, because I could see you both
doing that. I know, um,
that might strike fear into your heart, but
please don't let it. I.
I would encourage you both to,
just, as Denise mentioned,
sort of step outside your comfort zone and,
you know, look for opportunities to speak
because you're both great speakers.
Yes, you are both speakers.
Right. And so we know we've talked about that
in Thought Leader Academy. We make you put it
in your LinkedIn bio. If you have ever spoken
at all, you are a speaker.
But I would love to see both of you pitch to
things that might be outside your comfort
zone, because I do think your voices are
important, your perspectives are important,
and I know the audiences love to hear from
you. So, um, keep us posted on what you're
doing. And then for those of you who are
watching and listening to this,
be sure to connect with both Denise and
Bonnie and our other grads that you saw
yesterday on LinkedIn.
Follow what they're doing.
Give them props, you know.
Just just see what they're doing and see what
they're up to. Now, if you'd like to to join
us in the Thought Leader Academy and work on
your signature talk or any talk that you have
coming up, just like our two graduates today
did. You can go to speaking your brand.
Dot com slash academy for more details and to
apply. Now again that is speaking your brand.
And until next time thanks for watching.