Through the sea of raised hands, I could see the food.
It looked amazing, pigs in blankets, goujons, samosas. All beautifully presented by the waiting staff on silver platters.
I was salivating and I could hear my stomach grumbling. I kept having to swallow before answering a question. And make sure the mic wasn’t picking up my grumbling tummy.
The food had been sat there for some time, it felt like hours. It had to be cold. But that wasn’t going to stop me. As soon as the Q& A session was over I had visions of swan diving into the middle of the banquet.
I couldn’t be the only one who was ready to eat and yet still the questions kept coming;
‘You know the slide where you had the person’s metabolic rate…’
‘What is the most effective way I could calculate…’
‘Which means of tracking do you use…’
‘You know the machines in Boots the pharmacy…’
‘My Fitbit says that I…’
And then it was over. The last question was answered. Yes, food time.
But I had celebrated early I could see a queue forming. People who wanted to ask me a question that they didn’t feel comfortable asking in front of the group.
I get it, they might feel that they are asking a silly question. And don’t want to look silly in from of their work colleagues.
Or it was something personal that they didn’t want to share with the rest of the company.
All manner of weird and wonderful questions I fielded. The hunger sensation was suppressed. I was full of the feeling of satisfaction you get when you help someone to understand something.
The last person in the queue was the company director. “Andrew that was fantastic.” He said with a big smile.
“You kept 50 hungry people so engaged that they didn’t even notice the food come out”.
“You must be hungry yourself, go and grab yourself some food and meet me at the bar”
‘Finally, some food’, said the voice in my head in a Gordon Ramsey accent.
Or so I thought. I stood there overlooking the spread in disbelief. The staff members had ripped through the buffet like locus through a crop field.
Good job the hunger (Ghrelin wave) had passed. So I headed over to the bar to meet up with the Company Director.
“Andrew” The Director greeted me. “Let me introduce you to Phil. Phil runs a finance company”.
“That was great, how do I get you to come and deliver that seminar to my staff they would love that”. Phil said.
And that is how it started! That is how I ended up on the circuit (so to speak). A favour for a friend that turned into an opportunity to talk to businesses all over.
And Jesus have I missed it. Webinars have been nice and all but it’s not the same as going into offices and meeting people. Having that connection in a live face-to-face setting.
And I’m excited about this semblance of normality returning. Now that people are going back to the workplace.
Email me for more info on a Health and Well-being talks from yours truly.