Myth of Fingerprints

Blue Light Speakers Agency CEO and Founder Andrew Ledgerton-Lynch OBE delves into the myths surrounding everyday life and reflects on how that can prejudice perceptions when listening to some presenters.

It’s well known that you should eat five portions of fruit or veg a day and once you’ve gulped down that nutritious goodness you should get on your bike, or hike 10,000 steps. Not 9,000 steps or 11,000 steps but 10,000 steps, however long or short. That’s after, or before, your five portions of fruit and veg. Not four portions or six portions but five. That’s the sweet spot, five or ten, nice round numbers.

How closely does this align to latest academic thinking and reasoning from the brilliant minds of researchers and experts in their field? Not a jot. It’s completely arbitrary. Or kind of. “10,000 steps is kind of arbitrary” says Daniel Lieberman PhD. And five portions of fruit or veg? It was taken from advice by the World Health Organization and jumped on by the NHS for its ground-breaking campaign which changed how everyone thought about fruit and veg, from being bits of colour to enliven a dull salad to compulsory culinary necessities to be consumed relentlessly, every day, as if your life depends upon it, because it does! The good people steering the marketing campaign at the NHS quickly realised that, although you should really be thinking about seven plus portions a day, that would never wash with the Great British Public, so diluting the message was the only way. ‘Eat your five a day and live forever or choke on your salty crisps and take your chance!’ they seemed to be saying.

However, who’s going to knock someone endeavouring to get their 10,000 steps in a day or consume sizeable portions of healthy snacks and good green mealtime accompaniments? All wholesome stuff, so why kick up a fuss?

Well, taking the same thinking to the ‘outlier’ phenomenon, first trailed in Malcolm Gladwell’s bestseller, Outliers: The Story of Success in 2008, one can see how setting figures in stone can distort the central message. Gladwell maintained that the 10,000-hour rule applies to all great exponents when they seek world-class expertise in any skill. Those 10,000 hours, he asserts, should be practiced in the correct way. Plenty of highly successful people concur, and there’s clearly lots to be commended in endeavouring to pursue such an approach, not least to vastly improve performance. But 10,000 hours? Really?

If one hasn’t put in the groundwork – child prodigies be damned (that’s not a phrase I ever thought I’d use!) – then you haven’t earned the badge of honour. A tad harsh in my book. Mozart would be out on his ear and confined to the annals of history for overreaching at such a young age. How old should you be before you’re taken seriously? How many hours do you have to put in before you’re considered an expert?

Discussing a recent presentation by an internationally renowned speaker on a particularly daring rescue, my companions were struck by a) how dry and humourless his presentation was and b) on speaking to him informally later, how unpleasant an individual he turned out to be (not one of ours, I hasten to add!). On the other hand, his talk proved riveting with the audience on the edge of their seats throughout the hour-long duration, hanging on his every word and fascinated by the insight and graphic reality of real-life time-limited rescue.

The speaker was clearly an expert in his field and had doubtless practiced many more than the stipulated 10,000 hours required to merit an ‘outlier’ tag. The fact that he delivered in monotone and was to all intents and purposes, a bit of a knob, didn’t matter one jot to the audience. They were there for the story, the deep dive, the detail behind the headlines, and a sneaky peek behind the scenes of hum-drum everyday life to view the terrifying spectacle of life and death scenarios, from the safety and comfort of a conference room seat whilst sipping cappuccinos and worrying about consuming that chocolate muffing during the break and not even getting 2,000 steps in.

Was he a great speaker? Absolutely not. Does that stop him from improving his delivery, engaging more with the audience and expanding his listener base? Absolutely not. He doesn’t have to be an outlier in public speaking terms, he just needs to keep telling his story, hopefully whilst embellishing his speaking performance, and delivering on the headline promise of exposing the audience to the stark realities of rescue under duress.

That’s a compelling narrative in and of itself. So why jump on the fact and emphasise that ‘he’s not one of ours’? Well, there’s more to life than being an outlier, an expert, the font of all wisdom. There’s relatability, respect, camaraderie, inclusion and a host of other aspects that make us human, the sum of which is infinitely more inspiring than simply being a leader in one’s field.

The Blue Light Speakers Agency prides itself on giving access to a wide array of incisive, uplifting and brilliant speakers, all of whom, in their own unique ways, are down to earth, human and above all, inspirational. And to be inspirational you need to connect, to be relatable.

They’re as likely to be worrying about putting the steps in, eating the right things and catching the train home as you and I. They could all be classified as outliers in certain respects but for me, they’re much closer and accessible as innovators, enablers and role models. To find out how accessible and relatable are speakers are, visit: Podcasts | BLS Agency