7 on 7 – Sunjay Nath

Every month on the 7th day we post a new edition of “7 on 7,” where Jeff Jacobson will ask 7 questions of one of JJA’s speakers. We are proud to feature Sunjay Nath in our first edition; Sunjay is a Human Performance Engineer who has given thousands of talks over the course of his career. Check out his profile by clicking here.

At what age did you discover you had a knack for public speaking?

I was actually a very shy kid until mid high school. My involvement with student leadership often had me addressing large groups and one thing led to another and eventually people started ACTUALLY paying me to talk (that was very different from when I was paid to shut up)!

Your 10-80-10 principle is highly regarded. What led to its development?

The core of the 10-80-10 concept is nothing new, it’s been around a long, long time. All I did was attempt to prove and articulate that a strength based approach is the most effective path to top performance. I first made the observations in high school and have since ended up having many formal and informal discussion with business leaders about performance and leadership. The development of the framework is just a synthesis of me trying to explain what I have read, learned and researched in a clean precise manner. It seems to resonate with both organizations and individuals based on the feedback I receive.

What are the smallest and largest crowds you’ve ever talked in front of?

Smallest was eight, it was the C-suite of an organization that I did a full day retreat with. The largest 5000 people in the Cincinnati Convention Center.

Do you think the emergence of TED and other speaker series has been a good thing for the speaking industry?

Like most “new” things, I think the answer is yes and no. Definitely good, because very often TED speakers have great content, ideas, etc that can greatly inform an audience in 18 minutes. Also, given their popularity they have really advanced the speaking industry. And if the speaker is really that poor, the time frame is short enough that most people can suck it up for the short period. However, the flipside is that professional speakers that know how to emotionally and intellectually engage an audience require more than 18 minutes for best results. If you really want your content to stick with the audience you need to engage the heart and mind. That is very difficult to do with such a little time frame. When I have delivered these mini programs, the number one comment that comes back is “I wish he would have had more time.” I think the TED format is wonderful for the right speaker and horrible for the wrong speaker, just like any other format.

You have had the opportunity to address many students over the years, what has that been like?

I figured out years ago that I was bilingual, in that I speak both adult and student. It took me a long time to figure out that the two languages are so different. To be able to hold an audience of hundreds of students on a campus of a Friday afternoon in June when the air conditioning is not working is the single best training any professional speaker can get if they want to improve their delivery. Student audiences have a completely different energy to them – they are loud, they rude and they are honest. It is extremely refreshing. Speaking for students will always be a part of my mix, it keeps me sharp, and it is both very rewarding and humbling.

What’s one thing that would surprise people about Sunjay Nath?

I have three sons, am a black belt in Taekwondo and was once a movie extra in a movie that starred Angelina Jolie.

What’s your New Years Resolution?

My New Year’s Resolution is to not make any resolutions. I am a hardcore-type-A-rule-the-world-kinda guy, so for me to not to this is actually extremely difficult. When we work out we are supposed to take a break to let our muscles rest – that’s why I am doing this.