Imagine sitting in a room full of people involved in agriculture. Let’s say it’s a conference.
There are farmers in the room. There are industry representatives in the room. And there are policymakers in the room. The goal of this session is to critically evaluate and find common ground on a piece of legislation that affects your business.
There you are, coffee in hand. You know this is important stuff and you feel kind of important for being able to participate. Honoured to be part of a group that could move the needle in the right direction for agriculture in Canada.
The presenters begin. You follow for a bit, but at some point, like reading a book just before bed, you realize that your eyes are fixed in the correct direction but it has been a long way back in the presentation, say slide two, since you’ve understood anything.
You’re not alone.
When I hear a word I don’t know — especially during a presentation on a topic with which I am not intimately familiar— remaining focused becomes a struggle. If the content becomes confusing, my interest wanes, despite my best efforts.
Sitting around a table full of farmers following a presentation on a piece of government regulation, I once joked that what I need now is a flow chart or infographic to illustrate what we just heard.
As you can no doubt imagine, everyone agreed.
You’ve likely experienced a scenario like this before — sitting amid a peer group happily chatting over the coffee break at a conference as though you understood the content that was just presented to you. Then, someone confides that he didn’t really get it, throwing down the proverbial gauntlet. The person next to him agrees. And then you do, too.
This is an industry problem. Important, impactful decisions are being made in this fog of confusion.
Government consultations need to spend more time focusing on making the subject matter more accessible. Conference presenters need to spend more time making the foundational elements of their talks accessible and engaging. Scientists and researchers tasked with extending their knowledge to groups outside their peer groups need to value the process of evaluating, on a case-by-case basis, which mediums and which communications techniques may lead to the greatest amount of comprehension.
This might seem trivial but when you take the scenario I started this column with to its logical end, what you could have is a room full of people who feel compelled to engage with content that they are too ashamed to admit they don’t understand.
A confusing speaker that was not engaging is something we joke about, but when the room is full of people assembled for the express purpose of helping steer policy or provide critical feedback, how material is presented and in what format should be among the most important considerations.
It’s important we know and understand the differences between words like “regulation,” “policy,” “bill,” and “act,” but wouldn’t it be great — at least it would be great for me — if, during every meeting about policy where farmers are in the room, there was a slide that visually depicted what these things are, how they interact with each other and how they move through government.
I’ve been that person, on coffee break at a conference, pretending to have understood things. I’d rather not be, though. If every presentation could be clear and engaging, agriculture in Canada would improve at a noticeable rate.
Toban Dyck farms in southern Manitoba and shares his thoughts through media platforms.
