I would prefer to be handling a snake

The total fear of speaking at COP, the climate conference.

“Are you at home for a while now?” I was asked at a dinner the other night “Actually I am traveling to Azerbaijan on Wednesday. I have been invited to speak at COP, the climate conference”

“Goodness, you must be a climate expert” they replied.

“Not at all, in fact I know no more than the average person”

“So why are you speaking?”

When Extreme hangout first approached me to be part of COP29 I turned down their offer. I could not possibly speak to an audience at a climate conference. Sure I do my bit, but I am certainly not a climate warrior, a green panther, an environmentalist….

“It’s not about what you are not, it’s about what you are” said Amber, founder of Extreme Hangout, a global community and platform committed to combating the climate crisis. “Your focus of being involved in disaster relief is not one many people concentrate on, and it’s a critical spoke in the wheel of life on earth right now. Shit happens, sometimes caused by nature, sometimes by man, sometimes together, and we’re putting a heap load of unneeded pressure on ourselves and on the generations yet to be born. Your stories about relief and recovery will resonate with different people in different ways. More voices will ultimately mobilize more individuals to tackle what they feel they can do. But remember, no one has to be perfect”

I went to bed that night thinking about her words. NO ONE HAS TO BE PERFECT.

I thought about something else she said, “the cost of inaction today means more relief required tomorrow.” Relief is something I know about. The foundation I work with, Global Empowerment Mission, responds to an extensive range of natural and human-made disasters, providing immediate relief through emergency supplies, infrastructure support, and trauma care. They recognize the complex web of vulnerabilities being exposed by climate change, and geopolitical conflicts. This I could talk about.

In the morning, I called Amber back “Ok I’ll be brave- I’ll talk. But since you are focused on empowering young people to become our future changemakers perhaps I should bring one of my kids with me?”

So, this week Conrad and I will be in Baku. Conrad will take part in a panel discussion about relief and recovery. He also is nervous. Public speaking as we know is more feared than snakes or heights, of course, the only thing that truly matters in public speaking is not confidence or stage presence or smooth talking, it’s having something worth saying and Conrad does. Like his 4 other siblings he grew up on a barrier island in the Bahamas, he has witnessed first-hand the impact of hurricanes and sat through many, and seeing the aftermath of that monster Dorian, he got involved with GEM. And has since been on missions in Morrocco after the earthquakes and several times to the frontline in Ukraine delivering aid to the hottest conflict zones.

They have asked me to give a 15-minute Ted-like talk. I can speak for hours on design and decoration but a sharp 15 minutes on long-term recovery and sustained development takes thinking about. President Woodrow Wilson was asked how long it took him to prepare for a speech, he replied “That depends on the length of the speech. If it is a 10-minute speech, it takes me all of two weeks to prepare it, if it is a half hour speech it takes me a week, if I can talk as long as I want to it requires no preparation at all. I’m ready now.”   

I have now done a bit of research on Ted talks…making your audience laugh seems key, and probably a good idea at a conference that’s fairly focused on the world melting down.

Tony Blair (love him or hate him) made his audience laugh with the story of his visit to the Netherlands, where at a meal with dignitaries he encountered a well-dressed woman in her 50’s. She asked him who he was “Tony Blair” “And what do you do?”  “I lead the British Labour party.” He asked her who she was “Beatrix” “And what do you do?” which was followed by an awkward pause “I’m the queen.”

I’ll let you know how it goes, but wish us luck.