This week I had fun listening to Nigel Marsh’s talk How to Make Work-life Balance Work. Nigel is an author of Fat, Forty, and Fired and Overworked and Underlaid. He talks about the cliche “work-life” balance and how we can actually make that happen.

These are what I’ve noticed from Nigel’s talk

Teasing the audience as a way to engage

Nigel starts his talk by teasing the audience they have “miserable existence” and the audience laugh. He has a strong engaging beginning and an ending and that creates great connections with his audience.

Setting the Context so they know what to expect

In the beginning, Nigel mentions that he has 4 points to make and that helps the audience to follow his talk better.

Examples Help

In the middle of the talk, Nigel gives an example of what he considers a perfectly balanced day would look like and that helps make things clearer and more memorable.

If I could talk to Nigel directly, I would tell him these.

Rule of Three is important

Instead of having 4 points to make, I would have made them to be only 3, because the rule of three is easier to follow and engage with. The audience will also be able to remember his points better.

What did you particularly enjoy about the talk? What do you think he could have done better at?