Giving My first Nepris Industry Talk On Building Community and Asking for Help

Hello again;

I’m writing this while many of my fellow Texans are having it much worse than I am.

While we are still drinking bottled water, we do have electricity, plenty of food, and a plumber working to repair our plumbing.

We are on a well, so we will have running water again as soon as the pipes in our shower have been repaired.

But I do feel a little guilty to actually be working on my website, blog, or podcast at a time like this.

I hope my friends and followers realize that I’m sharing this as a way of encouraging and inspiring others even while things are difficult here in Houston.

Today, I’m writing about my first Industry talk on Nepris Learning Platform.

Here is a bit about Nepris.

Nepris connects educators and learners with a network of industry professionals, virtually, bringing real-world relevance and career exposure to all students.

Nepris also provides a skills-based volunteering platform for organizations to extend education outreach, and build their brand among the future workforce.

I first learned about them about two years ago. And I gave my first talk on the platform in September of 2019.

You can read more about that experience and watch a video of my presentation by going to the post titled: The Blind Blogger Sharing with Special Needs School Kids.

I booked the time for this talk before finding out for sure that I would be able to attend the Independent Podcasters Conference in Atlantic City hosted by my good friend Super Joe Pardo.

So, I ended up giving my Nepris talk in the morning, and speaking to the attendees at IndiePodCon that afternoon.

I remember being more nervous about talking to the school kids than I was about my upcoming talk to a much larger crowd at the conference.

And no offense to Joe or those gathered there, I felt more satisfied from speaking with those school kids.

Recently, I began a much closer relationship with the people at Nepris. Becoming a Partner, giving a talk to the Texas School for the Blind over their platform, and helping to spread the word about Nepris especially among institutions serving the blind or others with disabilities.

As part of that they encouraged me to offer an industry talk.

That is where you announce that you will be giving a talk on a given subject and classrooms all over the country can sign up to watch live.

I took part in a brain storming session, and it was determined that I should give a talk on what else but interdependence?

We scheduled the talk and agreed I would speak on the power of building a community and how asking for help and accepting help when offered can help you achieve your goals more quickly and with more joy.

The day finally arrived, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I was nervous.

While I generally prefer not to know the size of my audience, I was informed that fifteen classrooms had signed up in advance.

And when you watch the video or listen to the audio; you will hear me sing before my talk starts in earnest.

I mentioned to the lady helping me with the technical aspects of the talk that I usually relax by singing while I wait to go live.

I said I probably couldn’t do that. She said why not, so I got to share the second verse of the River by Garth Brooks.

I hope you enjoy my talk.

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I think I did a great job.

The kids had some great questions.

I got the opportunity to mention my books, their titles, descriptions, and where people could buy them.

And it felt good sharing my important message about interdependence with these young people.

I have met so many adults whose lives have been frustrated by the myth that we can and should go it alone.

I’m hopeful that my talk will help these young people avoid making this mistake in their lives.

And maybe you will learn how to ask for help so that you can make more progress in your life as well.

I would love to hear any of your experiences where asking for help or graciously accepting help when offered propelled your personal life or professional career.

Until next time stay safe out there, Max