I was one of the guest speakers at 'The Colloquium', a speakers-for-change conference directed at young people, which held on Friday the 27th of August as a project of the FAITH Initiative (see www.thefaithinitiative.org) to celebrate the annual International Youth Day Conference. I spoke on the theme: 'Violence, Terrorism and Crime: Who can stop the Unholy Trinity?' and this was during the first session as there were three in all.
I hinged my presentation on 'The Neighbour Principle', which was first postulated by Lord Atkin in 1932 in the case of Donoghue and Stevenson. This principle states that, "You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour". It goes on to define a neighbour as someone so closely and directly affected by your act that you ought reasonably to have him or her in contemplation as being so affected when you are directing your mind to the acts and omissions being called to question. The rationale is that if you consider the effect of your action(s) on the person next to you before you take them and your decisions before you make them, then this world will be a better place for everyone involved.
Worthy of note is that the people behind 'The Faith Initiative' are very young and at the same time wise beyond their years. I make bold to say that our country would be a better place if there were more of them like that in every nook and cranny. Just in case any one of them reads this piece, know this I am proud to be associated with people like them.
Anyway, back to the issue of my presentation I started out by asking a question that required feedback and I think that was able to get their attention at the start. I spoke for about 20 minutes in all but I do not think that was my best presentation ever but it was good enough to pass across the message I needed to and get them inspired in the process, even if I say so myself:-).
Just in case you are wondering how to become a better speaker, the approach would be to start accepting the opportunities that come your way and to give your best at all times. The bottom line is that one gets better with practice.
I enjoyed my time at 'The Colloquium' and I believe we all took time to sow important seeds for the future of our nation. For all those who attended, the time to act is indeed now!
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