For every conference there is a STAR!  And the undisputed STAR among all the international speakers at the recently concluded 43rd edition of  the International Federation of Training & Development Organizations (IFTDO) conference held in Dubai was Dr. Ebrahim Al-Dossary.

He was calm, confident and charismatic.  So what made Dr. Ebrahim the STAR of the IFTDO conference?  What made him stand out from the crowd?  In this article, I will shed light on four factors that made Dr. Ebrahim the shining STAR of IFTDO.

S for Selection of Topic.  His  presentation was titled “An Extraordinary Leader” and it was congruent with the theme of the conference:  Leadership Impact on Human Resources Development.  This wasn’t it!  Dr. Ebrahim chose an extraordinary leader who is admired and adored locally due to manifold reasons.  The hero of Dr. Ebrahim’s talk was ‏‎His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum; the Prime Minister of and Vice President of UAE and the Ruler of Dubai. The audience fell in love with the presentation because they are already in love with the hero of the talk; especially if you consider the fact that 50% of the audience are Emiratis and reside in Dubai.

T for Timing and Pacing.  Dr. Ebrahim was mindful of his presentation timing.  One of the organizers waved his hand to tell him that he has only five minutes left.  Dr. Ebrahim flashed the OK sign to him to tell the organizer not to worry; everything is under control.  And what I can I say about his pace of  delivery; it wasn’t fast or slow; it was just about right ,giving the live translators ample time to do their job well. Furthermore, Dr. Al Dossary was also generous with the local audience, his speech was interrupted with the many rounds of applause; but he never stepped on the applause, in order  to allow  the audience express their approval of what he was saying about their beloved leader.

A for Amazing Simplicity.  The entire speech was simple across many aspects.  The PowerPoint slides used were very simple.  The theme of the slides was consistent.  Each slide had a picture, a video clip or a statement.  And for each of these slides,  he narrated the story behind  the picture, the video or the statement to the audience.  Being aware of the fact that majority of the audience were locals who speak Arabic; he occasionally, spiced up his talk with several traditional proverbs to make his ideas clearer.  In addition to his simple presentation structure; his language was very  simple.  He refrained from using jargons and complicated words.  He made it simple to everyone; the audience, the translators and of course for himself!

R for Research.  The  supporting materials for his presentation were remarkable.  This was clear evidence that he researched his topic extremely well.  I wish you were with us in the conference to fully appreciate what I am talking about.  This gentleman researched the quotes, statements, books, pictures and video clips relating to Sheikh Mohammed to support his premise that the Sheikh is truly an extraordinary leader who is worthy of emulation.  As a speaker; your research time will always pay off when it comes to your stage time!

There you have it, four factors that made Dr. Ebrahim Al-Dossary the STAR of 2014 IFTDO conference.  However, there is one important tip that I want you to keep in your mind.  You should not go out speaking with the pursuit of becoming an event’s star; instead go out with the pursuit of having an impact on the audience.  That, my friend, will make all the difference!