The two reasons I would go to a talk are to learn something new or innovative or to hear something presented in a new way. Justin Trudeau didn’t tell me anything new and neither did he speak with much innovation. What he did provide was himself, someone to whom this group of mostly university students would listen.
Even if he doesn’t have much more than a famous father, the name of a prime minister, and a wealth of experiences around the world, if people will listen, it behooves him to speak and do what he can to make a difference.
He opened by saying that since he was a teacher he knows what it is like to be talked at and that he wanted to hear what we, the audience, thought and had to say. He said he would speak for only about 15-20 minutes; fifty minutes later he finished and asked for questions. The question period lasted less than 40 minutes.