It can shake your nerves and keep you up at night if you plan to try something new during a safety meeting or presentation. I know I get the jitters when I stretch and add a new activity or change the way I interact with audiences; at least the first time or two. But I know that if I keep doing the same thing over and over again, I’ll get stale and dated.
One reason safety meetings have a reputation for being boring is that they are often conducted the same way every time.
You show a bunch of PowerPoint slides with bullet points.
“Do this don’t do that” is the main fare fed to attendees.
How many more times can someone watch videos of funny or disturbing accidents? The first 15 years they were a common part of safety meetings fine, but not anymore.
I’m not saying you have to change every aspect of your safety presentations constantly. But you do need to try new stuff, especially if you have repeat audiences. For example, look around your home or office for a prop you can use that will tie in with your meeting topic in an unusual but believable way. (I once used a bucket, jug of water and saltbox to demonstrate how fast you lose water when you work in extreme heat.)
When I’m preparing for a talk, I’ll keep my mind open to new ideas and randomly surf the internet. Also, during my daily activities, something will often happen that I can use. A friend of mine Jamie, accidentally kicked a bowling ball which he thought was an air-filled ball. (The holes were facing away from him and the bowling ball was pink in amongst a bunch of other balls.) When Jamie told me about his foot-bruising actions I right away realized I had a new story to use to demonstrate how easily we can be deceived. I use it during my “Mindfully Safe” talk.
So try new stuff! If what you try doesn’t work out as you hoped—big deal. Either don’t do it again or revise the parts that didn’t go over well. But most times your audience will appreciate your efforts to liven-up the topic.
