David Wyner of InterRISK tells us why getting over his reservation of addressing large audiences played a key role in his career.
When he started out in the industry, the prospect of standing on a podium to address a large group of people was the type of thing that would have David Wyner waking up in a cold sweat.
“It seriously terrified me,” says Wyner, who’s now a Managing Principal at InterRISK as well as the new Vice President of NIBA.
“Part of my first broking job involved talking to a large group of people about insurance, and that taught me a lot about communication, and how to convey a confident facade."
His first insurance job – with the Royal Insurance Company – was taken 25 years ago, and since then Wyner’s career path has taken him to OAMPS Insurance Brokers as its Victorian Development Manager, then National Affinity Manager and on to Chief Operating Officer in 2002, before joining InterRISK in 2009.
But it was a career path he may never have ventured upon if, one day, he’d decided not to take a walk around Sydney to hand out his resumé to insurance companies. He explains:
“I originally went off to study law but it was really not my thing. We had a family friend in the insurance business and it seemed to me that he did pretty well out of it, so my mind was set. After applying for as many advertised jobs as I could, it became clear that experience was the key, although I really had no hope given my complete lack of experience.
“So one sunny Sydney day I caught the train into the city and walked into every building that carried insurance company signage with my scant resumé and my eternal optimism. I was surprised how many HR managers saw me on the spot and chatted with me about my aspirations. After a full day of pounding the pavement, I went home and (optimistically) waited for the phone to ring. Surprisingly, the next day, I was offered four cadetships. My selection process was simple, I accepted the first job offered at 9.00am that morning, and the next week went to work for the Royal Insurance Company at No 1 York Street."
After serving the Royal, Wyner moved on to his first broking role with an east coast broking firm with its head office in Sydney. It was there where he was thrust in front of people and expectedto speak.
“It seriously terrified me, but I developed a resolve in my mind that seemed to work. The people in the audience were there because they knew nothing about insurance. If I made a mistake who in the audience was going to challenge me? I was the ‘expert’ after all. Once I drummed that into myself,and convinced myself that what I was doing was really helping them, it became a whole lot easier. It then became a personal challenge for me to improve week to week and I did – practice really does make perfect."
Wyner says that experience had an immensely positive effect, and encourages anyone who has worries about addressing audiences to give it a go and to tackle their reservations head on.
"So many people simply cannot or will not get up and speak to an audience,” he says.
“I think this is really sad because I firmly believe we all have the ability to do it, and to do it well. Not just speaking to potential clients, but to shareholders, staff and other stakeholders, the skill is one that is really worth having. Most of my career was with OAMPS, in the latter part as its COO for six years. I firmly believe that if I had not left my comfort zone early in my career I would not have been able to do my job at OAMPS or at InterRISK to the best of my ability.”
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