TEDxBillings Fall Salon Event featuring Tim Pollard

TEDxBillings Fall Salon Event Featuring Tim Pollard

Civility, Discourse, and How to Communicate with Tim Pollard

A sold out crowd recently had the opportunity to hear from Tim Pollard, a renowned author, speaker, and a fantastic presenter.

Tim customized his talk for our most recent salon event, and encouraged us to pay attention to how we are interacting with other people.  And not just how to interact, but to try harder to have great conversations without resorting to violence, name calling, or overall acting like angry baboons toward each other.

In case you missed it, we have the short version for you here.

But First, What’s a Salon Event?

Leading up to the main event, TEDx communities around the country host what are known as “Salon Events.”

These smaller, more intimate, gatherings are designed to keep the TEDx community engaged and excited between the regular events.  It’s a great place to connect with new supporter, reconnect with the old, and get to know the headline speakers at upcoming events.

And great news, these events generally come with food and drinks!

The Highlights of Tim’s Talk

At this event, Tim took the time to focus on one thing: how human beings are acting toward one another.  His talk was his reaction to, and expansion upon, Alain De Botton’s TED talk from 2009 regarding success, failure, and snobbery.

Tim goes on to say that civility has taken a nose dive.  And in the past year or two, as we try to figure out how to live during a pandemic, it has gone even farther south as our conversations become more heated, and our opinions more diversified.

One of the biggest reasons is that many people have developed this incredible sense of entitlement.

He explains that our preferences are not our rights, but when we confuse the two, and start demanding preferences as something we are rightfully entitled to, it creates divisions and conflict amongst otherwise civil and productive members of society.

He gives the example that when you sign up to work for a company, and you put in the hours, you deserve to be paid; you have the right to be paid.  But if you’re out and about, and someone bumps into you, your rights were not violated.  You don’t get the right to have absolutely nobody bump you, and you definitely don’t deserve retribution where you can hurt that person because of what they did.

Taking the matter even deeper, the media hasn’t done much to help the situation.

In the past, media and news reporters had the duty to report what happened.  They gave the facts, and didn’t try to influence the reader, listener, or watcher to think or hold a particular opinion.  Those opinion pieces were in a special section, an editorial section.

Today, however, the majority of media is biased one way or the other.  And it’s not just that they’re giving their opinions on the matter, but they’re actually demonizing those who have a differing or alternate viewpoint.  It’s creating division, which leads to a decline in civility among human beings.

Tim concludes with one simple concept: anything that is done in the company of other people must be done with respect.

Who is Tim Pollard?

Tim is an author, and the founder of Oratium; a leading firm in the field of messaging.  He has helped consult with a bunch of big name corporations including IBM, Disney, Salesforce, and more.  His coaching and guidance have helped them on how effective their communication is.

TEDxBillings will Host Another Salon Event in February]

If you missed this one, don’t worry!  TEDxBIllings will host one more salon event before the main event.

The next Salon is coming up in February, so stay tuned, keep in touch, and when you see the tickets go on sale, make sure that you get yours before they sell out like they did with Tim Pollard’s talk!