Building Trust with The Knowledge Guild

When the Speakers Corner team arrived at the office on a Tuesday morning kitted out in party gear; it meant one thing – The Knowledge Guild was back! Over at The Brewery the kitchen staff were in full swing preparing the delectable canapés, the speakers were fine-tuning their presentations, and we were flapping and packing; planning and panicking – as 4 o’clock approached, the Uber was booked, and the excitement palpable.

This week The Knowledge Guild had its second outing at The Brewery in The City with a unique and fascinating event built on trust – and hosted by a handful of our most authentic and authoritative speakers – Economist Andrew Scott , presenter Gavin Esler , politician Tessa Jowell  and Head of Investment Strategy, Television Broadcaster, Board Director & Quantum Physicist,   Gemma Godfrey .

Gavin Esler, who is currently writing a book on trust, was a particular highlight for Sophie . His point about Alastair Campbell getting his retaliation in first by introducing himself as “The Most Evil Man in Britain” was a clever and entertaining anecdote that really brought to the fore the concept of ‘spin’ and also of course ‘trust’, which was the topic of the day. He really was a wonderfully natural and engaging speaker.

For Debbie  it was something that Tessa Jowell said that stuck with her – “the chilling loneliness of leadership” with regard to the buck literally stopping with you; and the fact the if you are constantly talking about how trustworthy you are as an individual, or as a company, has a detrimental effect with no-one trusting you! You have to SHOW how trustworthy you are by just being trustworthy! It takes time because people need to see it, you are not just going to get everyone on board overnight. Adam  was bowled over by Andrew Scott’s predictions for the future. “Little did I know that Andrew Scott, (a macro-economist!) would be able to impact me – His views on the 100 year life were quite mind-blowing as I was a awash with feelings of anything is possible, regardless of what stage of life you are in. What was most interesting was his analogy that if someone was to give you an extra 8 hours at the end of each day – Your whole life routine would change, this is basically what the 100 year life is about. My minds wandered to what I can do with my time, back to school and try to get into medicine, invent a world-changing app or win that best supporting actor Oscar (I’m a realist) – It’s never too late!”

For Tim , Gemma did an excellent job hosting the night ensuring that everything ran on time. She facilitated an excellent discussion around trust at the end and did this with a true professionalism while balancing it perfectly with a little humour.

Our social media & blogging manager, Jason , had time to catch up with Gavin Esler after and discuss writing, particularly where Gavin finds the time to do it in and around a busy schedule.  Although writer’s block has halted many a career, and even sacrificed writers’ lives, Gavin does not seem to have any issue with getting ideas down on a white screen. Maybe it’s his journalistic background and meeting deadlines, it comes to him very easily and he writes wherever, and whenever, he can.

Looking at social media itself we had some very positive feedback on the night with our hashtag: #knowledgeguild ; ensuring the audience, the speakers and ourselves had a great night. Those delectable canapés certainly helped the night along too!