Nobody is coming to your training workshop to gain a new skill set.

Nobody is coming to your training workshop to gain a new skill set.

I've been on the giving and receiving end of this dirty secret.

I've been to mandatory training. I've been to workshops because I believed I needed the knowledge, information, skills.

Even though I received knowledge, information, and skills. I left unsatisfied!

What I really wanted was to be heard and understood. I wanted to be validated. I wanted to know "I'm ok".

I've given training courses. I've watched people glaze over as I shared priceless insights.

Simply saying "You're not alone", "Look at all these people here to learn about this issue" is not enough.

The response is "They are here because they're boss makes them". "I'm sure they are not a bad as me."

You used to be an expert if you knew information others did not.

You are only an expert today if you have felt what others have, and found a solution.

Your story is more important than your information. Information is a commodity. Anybody can get information. They don't need a human to get information. They need a human to get validation.

Share your story of failure and struggle with the issue. If you don't have a story of struggle and failure then you are not an expert.

Real things break. Fake things are perfect and always work. Unless you tell people about the brokenness of you and your ideas they won't believe you are real.

Why did you gain the knowledge, information, and skills you now have? Because you were failing. If you weren't failing then you don't have anything to offer an audience that is failing.

We want to know you failed. This is how we are validated. Only when we know you failed do we believe you have valuable isight.

In the comments let me know how you validate your audience?