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← theprofessionaldevelopmentandemployabilitylady – identity crisis?
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October 13, 2011 · 5:28 pm
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DARA O BRIAIN COMES TO SURREY
Cool visitors in the workplace are always the cause of great excitement,
especially when they are as well-known and well-loved as Dara O Briain (I won’t
call him a celebrity because apparently he doesn’t like that). We’re very
fortunate to have our own, in-house TV Star Jim Al-Khalili here at the
University of Surrey. As well as being tops in his academic field, his media
status means that his series of “Jim Meets…” interviews attracts interesting and
entertaining conversationalists like David Attenborough and Brian Cox as well as
Dara onto campus. This gives us all a great evening out and there’s always a
scramble for the tickets.
A common misconception about famous people such as our esteemed visitors is that
they’re just lucky. When people are really good at what they do, they can make
it look really easy to the rest of us. Perhaps this is why we don’t tend to
give them full credit for the amount of work that goes into it. In Dara’s case,
he probably was born funny (and I mean that in the nicest possible way, of
course), which would be a natural advantage for his chosen vocation.
Nevertheless, he didn’t get where he is today without making any effort. My
favourite career theory, Planned Happenstance, seems a good fit here too. We
put ourselves into advantageous positions with the choices we make and the
actions we take and then only a sprinkling of luck is required to make things
happen. Actually, I’ll correct myself and suggest a better and more accurate
way to describe it is ‘opportunity’ rather than luck. Luck is something that
just happens, whereas opportunities are things you actively have to take if you
want the benefits.
When Dara was a student at University College Dublin, he took advantage of the
extra-curricular activities on offer. He did mention the lure of beer and girls
during his undergraduate years, but it was another activity he talked about that
provided a great foundation for his future career in stand-up comedy: debating.
In fact, he was so successful in competitions that he won a trip to the USA
where he honed his skills further on a debating tour. He pointed out that his
technique improved during the tour – a great illustration of how practice makes
perfect. Taking up opportunities to practise speaking in public, thinking on
his feet, formulating coherent and articulate arguments will surely have built
his confidence as well as his skill and could be considered almost the perfect
preparation for the years that followed on the comedy circuit, building his
reputation. Performing to small and probably not always welcoming or
accommodating audiences, seeing what worked and what didn’t in order to perfect
his act must have taken a lot of persistence, determination and self-belief and
I gather getting into broadcasting through the ranks of children’s TV was
something of a battle too. Mind you, the debating could equally well have led
him into politics or law. Not that I’m suggesting he should, as he seemed
pretty happy with how things worked out.
Seemingly, debating is a more popular extra-curricular acitivity in Ireland than
it is here in the UK, but of course it’s not the only student union society that
nurtures talents and provides an outlets for students’ skills. Pretty much
anything is fertile ground for development and, importantly, for proving to
others what you can do. The only secret is that you have to get into it and
stick with it.
At the end of my lecture in the same theatre the other day – when sadly the
leather sofas, potted palms and minimalist backdrop had been cleared away – I
spotted a stack of “Jim meets…” branded cards. They turned out to be the cue
cards with questions Jim had prepared for himself. I’ve kept hold of them. I
reckon I can probably sell them on Ebay. Maybe I should get them signed?
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