Leading with Empathy - Jeff Kalpak - Speaking of Events - Episode # 008

Speaking of Events

Jeff Kalpak is the President of Americas at FIRST. His passion for events and public speaking is evident by the beautiful work that he does all the time. He uses the 10 principles of storytelling to influence his event planning style and it creates a lasting impression on guests. Jeff joins host Kerri Garbis to talk about all things event planning and what advice he might have for others. Takeaways Events have an incredible shelf life. If an event is done well, it stays with you for a long time. It’s something that happens once but can live on in the way it makes you feel. There are 10 principles of storytelling and the first one is to think about where you want to end up. With the audience, you want to build backwards from there. Speaking to clients often and giving them advice can help save them from potential disaster situations. People don’t always understand the amount of preparation that goes into planning an event. You need to plan for backup plans in case something goes wrong. Event planning can be done in the hybrid environment. The skills to deliver the event are different when it is remote but it still can be done. You want to lead with empathy. It helps to create better events when you step into the shoes of those who will be at the event. Take the time to talk to people and see where they are coming from. You want to make people feel comfortable and you need to be flexible with people now. Quote of the Show 16:26 “I think leading with empathy is the key and I can't help you if I don't know what's going on. Um, it helps us create better events when we really step into the shoes of. Our audience, our clients, our stakeholders in the event to really understand where they're coming from, what they're doing, but the landscape is, it's a big, it's a big deal.” Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkalpak/ Website: https://firstagency.com/ Ways to Tune In: Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a158d222-4beb-4c72-9569-0916e79a80f4/speaking-of-events Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/speaking-of-events/id1611059542 Spotify - ​​https://open.spotify.com/show/699re9JSEnwNXnrNLGLUkz Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc3BlYWtpbmdvZmV2ZW50cy5jb20vZmVlZC54bWw?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwiI6PWe2o73AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ&hl=en YouTube - https://youtu.be/OtG7Kgwn54s