Most of us would not consider ourselves to be prejudiced or biased towards other people. If we are to be honest with ourselves we would discover we are. Now, I don’t mean a racial, religious, or sexual bias. I mean a communication or motivation bias. You may have found yourself planning a safety meeting and you made it a great meeting for people like you or your close friends. Every audience has a mix of many members with varying likes, dislikes and biases of their own.

Any professional speaker will tell you that you must know your audience if you want to reach them with your message.

Do they have families? If you have young people in your workforce, what are they into? Sports, music, etc. What are their hobbies, likes, and dislikes?

One of the best things you can do is talk to people or should I say, listen to people! You might think back on your interactions with people during the last few months. Have you only talked with people to correct their behaviors or to inform them of safety rules? My favorite model for a safety team member is someone who people look forward to seeing. This happens when you are a positive presence in the workplace. If people see you as a police person you are less likely to get them to open up to you.

One of the best examples of being a positive presence in the workplace is my good friend Jack Jamba. Jack works at the Kennedy Space Center and when I am speaking at the center he escorts me around. What I noticed was that people would say hello as we walked by. Many would come over to get his advice, ask a question, or just say hello. They were clearly glad to see him. This is in great contrast to some tours I have had at some locations where the safety person is actually avoided or you see people quickly put on their safety glasses because the safety person “caught” them. When you make it a point to just talk to people you get to know them and then you begin to better understand your audience.

Next time, as you prepare to speak to an audience, sit and watch them come in and take their seats. Notice who they are, what differences you see like age, size, tenure with the company or anything else. Perhaps you might even greet people as they come in the door. As a matter of fact, I have observed presidents of companies and CEO’s do this very thing at many meetings they attend. They know the value of listening to people to get the pulse of an organization.

We often hear the phrase, “We need to change the safety culture here.” Well, how can you change a culture if you don’t know what it is to startwith? Remember to watch and listen to your audience and you will discover the secrets to effectively communicate with them.

Focus on your audience and you are much more likely to have a meeting that will be exciting and meet their needs.

If you are missing any of the previous issues let me know and I will send them to you. Contact me at john@drebinger.com

Have a motivating week. Until next time, warm regards, JD

Discover how John Drebinger can help your safety team improve it’s effectiveness. Check out our web site at www.drebinger.com


I hope you have found this ezine helpful. The next issue will cover The final Deadly Mistake of Boring Safety Meetings...

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