145. Simone Heng: Emotion Gets Connection Into Motion

Simone Heng is a professional keynote speaker, sought-after international MC and former broadcaster. Over her one and a half decade-long career in the entertainment industry, Simone’s job was to build memorable connections with audiences on stage, on air, online and one-to-one. Hopping countries from the age of 17, Simone has lived and either worked or studied in Dubai, Australia, Switzerland and now is back in Singapore where she was born. It is her cross-continental adventures which have allowed her to become a true student of Human Connection. In 2019 she was awarded Asia’s Top Youth Marketeer 2019 at the Asia Youth Women Netizen Marketing Excellence Awards.

Emotion gets connection into motion

Simone’s mission is to spread to the world the message of human connection. One of the key pillars of human connection is: You have to emote. You have to show emotions in your face. For instance in many Asians cultures, people aren’t used to show emotions, but to put emotions into delay. That works well for negotiating a business deal, but not very well for connecting quickly with people. We have to show the faces behind us. If we emote, other people perceive us with a lack of suspicion and they trust more easily. You can’t have connection without trust.

Using self-filmed videos in a TEDx talk

Last September 2019, Simone had her TEDx talk “How to connect authentically to anyone.” One element that made this talk memorable was the use of a few short videos that Simone filmed with her own mobile phone. Simone is constantly capturing videos when she interacts with people and finds “human connection superheroes.” Indeed, showing real moments of people’s lives is a powerful way to communicate the importance of human connection.

How can we unite people?

In the last years the world feels more polarized. How can we unite people? Simone reiterates that commonality connects, that common human experiences are the threads that bind everybody. If you are debating with a person of opposing views, remember: “that person is not their views.” Humanize the other person in front of you: they are a mother, a daughter, etc.

Related: Connect With an Audience in the 21st Century, and Motivate!

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