Logistics – Ten Elements of an Effective Safety Kickoff Volume Seven by Safety Speaker John Drebinger
#7 Logistics – Tuesday, November 1st
Announce logistical details during the first morning. Emergency information, exits, restrooms, food, or anything else pertinent to your kickoff.
Cell Phones & Pagers
There are creative ways of asking people to turn off cell phones, such as theatre announcements using old movie cuts, jokes, skits, etc. Then announce to please turn phones and pagers off. Provide cell phone and pager breaks so your people may check their messages and voice mail during the breaks.
Breaks
Announce to your audience how and when you are going to take breaks. Let them know if they are scheduled or will be taken when the presenter feels they are necessary.
PA Systems – Make Sure You Can Be Heard
Use a microphone for all questions or comments. Be sure to repeat all questions from the audience so everyone can hear what was asked.
Questions
Encourage people to feel free to ask questions anytime during the presentation.
There are several different formats for handling questions. If having people raise their hand during a video or a person’s talk is difficult, let people know they can write their questions down and hand them in at the breaks. This also allows for those too shy or intimidated to ask a question. Please have them put their name on the card so you can get clarification if necessary. Never mention their name from the card when reading the question out loud. To encourage questions, ask a few people to submit questions ahead of time and then begin by calling on them. Make sure you give them a copy of their question back so when you call on them they have it. Also suggest to people during the meeting to write down questions in note form so when the microphone gets to them, they haven’t forgotten their question or comment.
Tell people, “Feel free to ask a question anytime.” This wording is important! Too often I hear people say, “Feel free to INTERRUPT anytime with a question.” The word interrupt has too many negative connotations and is by nature something people will avoid. You are subliminally telling them not to ask questions because since they grew up their mom, dad and teachers have always told them not to interrupt. Your invitation will not overcome that programing.
Questions In or Out of Meetings
You have often heard, “There is no such thing as a stupid question.” Well, I wonder if that is true. We, as trainers or presenters, may not think the question is a stupid one but that is looking at it from our viewpoint. Think like your audience! If the person asking or thinking of a question thinks it’s stupid, then to them it is and they won’t ask it.
Some Tips For Dealing With Questions:
- Have them write down questions so no one will know they
asked the stupid question.
- In asking an audience questions, too often we leave them without being able to answer or not giving enough time to develop an answer; therefore we shut them down.
- Questions asked of an audience should be pre-framed or simple enough to cover with an answer right away.
- Ask questions of the group but always call on individuals for answers.
- Never go fishing for answers when people don’t know answers (when audience keeps getting it wrong it kills audience participation). It teaches them not to raise their hand.
- Make sure whenever possible that you help the audience succeed if you want to continue the specific behavior.
Kickoff or Celebration Team Members
Let people know who to contact on your team if they have any special needs which you can help with. Many teams wear a distinctive shirt that allows them to stand out in a crowd. This also builds team spirit and is a nice way to thank them for all their extra work.
Some Other Kickoff Tips
- The magic of one word – using name tags. Calling people by name is very powerful.
- Preferred seating arrangements. Make sure people can see and hear.
- Insist that all speakers use public address systems – some people are hearing impaired.
- Use your physiology to convey passion.
- Remove any podium – let your audience see you.
- Take breaks as the audience needs them. Your experienced workers may need more restroom breaks than their twenty year old counterparts.
One of The Best Reasons To Work With John Drebinger
I have a little secret weapon that makes my clients meetings and kickoffs a smashing success. It is the person who has been doing my marketing for the past twenty-one years. Diane Weiss has more knowledge of how to have a successful safety kickoff or meeting than anyone else I know. She has helped many people with their first meeting and even those who are seasoned professionals have told me how much help Diane was to them.
The real bonus is Diane’s expertise doesn’t cost you a dime more. So join the hundreds of safety teams that have told me upon my arrival that Diane was indespensible to their success. Call her at 209-745-9419.
Would You Like to Share This Article With Others?
This newsletter is the 7th in a series of ten on how to have an effective safety kickoff. If you would like to share any of these articles go to http://www.drebinger.com/?page_id=690
where they have been posted on my daily blog. When reprinting or emailing please include credit to: John Drebinger Presentations 209-745-9419 and www.drebinger.com
Outcome Based Presentations For Your Safety Kickoff
“Would You Watch Out For My Safety?”
We tell everyone that they should be their “brothers keeper” and yet we don’t teach them how to do it. This presentation which accompanies my new book by the same title is designed to create a culture in your workplace where watching out for each other is the norm rather than the exception.
“Would You Watch Out For My Safety?” will:
• Give people the five reasons they should watch out for the safety of others.
• Explain the three reasons people fail to watch out for the safety of others and then give them a perspective that will allow them to overcome the obstacles that keep people from helping others.
• Give them specific techniques they can use immediately to share safety with someone else in a way both people will feel great.
• Finally the most important lesson of the presentation is showing people how to respond when someone watches out for their safety. This lesson ensures that people will continue to watch out for each other and will seek out ways to watch out for the safety of their fellow worker.
This presentation is so powerful that John has written a book by the same title that is provided for each attendee so they can review what they have learned and share it with their family and friends. It has been so well-received that we have already made our second printing of 5,000 copies only four months after our releasing the book.
“Ensure Your Safety”
If you want people to take personal responsibility for their own safety on and off the job this presentation is for you.
Your employees will learn:
• Why they need to take personal responsibility for their own safety.
• How to stay focused in order to ensure safe performance.
• How distractions impact their personal safety.
• How to regain their focus on safety when distractions get in the way.
• Why they want to avoid shortcuts for themselves and others.
Everyone will develop a positive association between safety and their job and understand how working safely directly benefits them and their families, today and in the future. Using magic, group participation, specific safety principles and universal truths, John will show the seasoned worker why they play a vital role in helping the “new guy” work safely by avoiding shortcuts and doing everything the safest way we know how.
John shows them why using the appropriate personal protective equipment ensures their safety even when machinery fails or human errors occur. This presentation covers safety from the time they leave home to driving safely back to their family at the end of the day.
His unique presentation breaks through the mindset of, “We have heard it all before.” His magic captures their attention, and the message they hear will make them take action resulting in fewer injuries.
“Safety as a Value”
In this completely different program, John shows your employees how to improve their own safety by sending the right message via their actions and words at work and home.
Your Employees Will Learn:
• What their real values are.
• How to convey those values to their family and friends.
• Safety is a value for everyone.
The key to his insightful approach is the premise that safety must be a personal value, and that values don’t change when conditions change, even in tough times. John will help your people raise their expectations, vision, passion, and energy to work safely and make a safer and more productive workplace.
With new stories and magic, this presentation will help your employees continue their enthusiasm and focus toward another year of safety success!
What do you want from a safety presentation?
• People to walk out saying, “That was the best safety meeting they have ever attended.”
• Everyone to talk about the safety meeting long after it is over.
• You want all of the above and most of all you want to get results. It doesn’t matter if everyone loved the speaker, their message, and yet they don’t change how they work.
John Drebinger is the only top safety speaker specifically trained to deliver an effective message. In addition to his Bachelors degree in Speech he has been a member of the National Speaker’s Association for over 16 years and has attended seminars from some of the most effective communicators in the nation.
From the descriptions listed above you have already noticed something that separates John Drebinger from other professional safety speakers. As an author and speaker he has many different presentations he can do for your employees. To help you deliver your safety message John customizes each of his presentations to convey your theme and concepts. Unlike many other safety speakers who have only one speech or story to tell, John has developed presentations that build on each other to help you improve your safety performance.
Logistics
John can do multiple presentations during the day so that all your shifts can hear his outstanding message. Diane Weiss his marketing director can help you with your scheduling as she has worked with hundreds of companies over the past twenty-one years and knows what will serve you best.
John’s presentations can be done in virtually any location. If you can safely gather an audience he can get his message to them.
These presentations are designed for employee meetings with 45 minutes to 1-hour time available.
