Posts Tagged ‘public speaking’
Thrown to the Wolves…
By: Michelle
I had the opportunity to sit in on a guest lecture by Gene Baur, co-founder of Farm Sanctuary and hear his viewpoints on animal agriculture. The audience consisted of a mixed group of ag students and faculty with most of them never having the opportunity to hear from someone on the otherside. If one was an average consumer and had little to no education about the livestock industry, then Mr. Baur’s discussion would have been very convincing and seemingly factual. Mr. Baur is a dynamic public speaker when it comes to feeding off of his audience’s emotions and guiding the discussion where he wants it, but that’s the only positive thing I could see, if you can even call it positive.
What Mr. Baur had to say differed completely from what his website had to say about what their organization was all about. The website presents a viewpoint saying that the organization is focused on “raising awareness about the negative consequences of industrialized factory farming and our cheap food system”. Today he discussed his advocacy for going vegan and that the ultimate goal of stamping out animal agriculture completely. While he stands on his soapbox of his own personal beliefs, the foundation of his speech was based on weak, unreliable science. And despite persistant questioning from several members in the audience, he seemed to always find a way to avoid answering the question and going back to his personal agenda.
The few audience members that could see Mr. Baur’s true colors were disappointed and disgusted. What concerned me the most, however, was that there were many ag students sitting in there absolutely confused as to what to think, let alone what to say or ask.
I feel fortunate to have had my experience as a Beef Ambassador and to be able to really see how public relations works on both sides of this particular issue. Also having the training and skills to be able to address people such as Mr. Baur is essential to telling our story.
But what about the rest of the students in that room? Some of these kids haven’t even seen the otherside and don’t have enough of a knowledge base to support their own cause. To have a powerful activist leader such as Mr. Baur come and speak to these students is like throwing these kids to the wolves. While the experience is important and being aware of the other side is essential, I think some preparation and perhaps even a practice session would have been much better than what had happened.
I guess my point out of all of this is don’t bite off more than you can chew, especially when it comes to something you really care about. In this case of defending animal agriculture, where the industry is dependant on consumer tastes and preferences, good speaking skills and research to back it up is key to having a productive discussion with anyone, vegan or not.
