Hadfield

*/By Rick Nason, PhD, CFA
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc/*

*/Follow us on Twitter/* [1]

Went to see a talk by Chris Hadfield yesterday at Dalhousie University. 
Chris Hadfield is Canada's most famous astronaut, who is perhaps best known
internationally for commanding the International Space Station and for
this:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo [2]

I previously wrote a review of Chris Hadfield's book for this blog series
http://www.rsdsolutions.com/blogs/rick-nason/2014/31/astronaut%E2%80%99s-guide-life-earth
[3] and commented that it would make an excellent risk training manual or
textbook.

After the talk, which was excellent, the President of the University got up
to thank Chris Hadfield for his talk.  During his thanks, the President said
something that caught my ear.  The comment was "You (Chris Hadfield) have
a real gift for connecting with people".

During the talk Chris Hadfield had us all spellbound as he described the life
of an astronaut that is going on the shuttle or on a Soyuz rocket to the
International Space Station.  It is something that few (very very few) of us
will ever experience.  Yet Commander Hadfield had a way of keeping us all on
the edge of our seats as we rode along with him.  He connected with everyone
in the audience.

Connecting with an audience is a very valuable skill to have if you plan on
making a living as a professional speaker.  Connecting with an audience
however is critical if you are to be a value-added risk manager.


[1] https://twitter.com/rsdsolutions
[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo
[3]
http://www.rsdsolutions.com/blogs/rick-nason/2014/31/astronaut%E2%80%99s-guide-life-earth