Presentations in a Time of COVID
Mark McLaughlin, M.D.
NEUROSURGEON | STORYTELLER | COACH | Connecting People with Purpose and Inspiring Patients, Athletes, Leaders, & Doctors Through Service | Speaker | Author, Cognitive Dominance: A Brain Surgeon’s Quest to Out-Think Fear
People who are close to me know that I have always enjoyed making presentations and delivering speeches intended to inspire the listeners to be their “best” selves. Heck…, in the past, I’ve even referred to myself as a “wrestling coach trapped in a neurosurgeon’s body.”
I am driven by a desire to contribute.
At the beginning of the COVID19 pandemic, it seemed apparent that there would be very little opportunity to reach out to new audiences. In person meetings were being cancelled. Events with a long history of presentation during difficult economic or social times struggled to find ways to be meaningful or even possible in the new now. International events that had been planned literally for years had to accept the grim reality that they could not occur.
It was disappointing. Yet, we are humans. We find ways to adapt.
Suddenly, online meeting became mainstream. Millions of people bought webcams, and learned how to join a meeting in Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, or any of the other platforms that sprang up to allow us to virtually come together.
In the Meditations, Marcus Aurelius suggested that like a wrester, we must “stand ready and firm to meet onsets which are sudden and unexpected.” Well… I’m a wrestler so that makes sense to me.
The remarkable thing is that today I find myself doing more speaking engagements than ever. A year ago, an engagement might involve 2 days of travel out and back, an overnight in hotel, and limited or no office or surgery time. There was a limit to how many events I could participate in.
Today, it’s not unusual to schedule an event for 60-90 minutes through the day or in the evening. Preparation often takes place the night or in the week before, and it’s a relatively simple matter to end office hours a little early, or alternatively to schedule around the online event.
The reality is that I am now able to reach out to more organizations than ever before; delivering presentations to corporations, sports clubs, organizations, and interested groups of all kinds. It is an exciting development.
If you would be interested in learning more about booking me as a speaker for your upcoming event, please visit my website to learn more.