A few years ago, at an industry conference, my closing story was running my first half-marathon with our daughter, Dannielle. The audience needed to know they have the ability to do great things if they believe and do the work.

I’ve told the story over a hundred times. This audience was hearing it for the first time. To keep it fresh, I relive the events, telling it with the same passion as if it happened yesterday.

This week Lynnda and I are in Phoenix at Influence, the National Speakers Association’s Annual Conference. Professional speakers know; No. 1 It’s all about the audience, not about us or our message. What can we do to make a positive difference in their lives. No. 2 People won’t always remember what we say. They will always remember how we made them feel.

A year later I was back at the same conference as an attendee. A young lady approached, “Mr. Kozera I wanted to let you know that you and Dannielle inspired me to run the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon.”

Then she added, “I figured if an old guy like you could run a half-marathon, so could I.”

Facts alone weren’t enough, my passion and the story made it memorable and motivating.

My goal here is to avoid politics and giving opinion. Readers need facts, sound science and basic engineering principals. This example may be helpful. I challenge you to forget anything you have heard or believe. Keep an open mind. Bury emotion. Be like Mr. Spock in Star Trek who makes decisions based on logic. Just understand the facts with no emotion or passion.

We live on a hilltop and get a lot of rain. Water NEVER runs up the hill. It always runs downhill or pools in a flat area.

I prefer to run on flat ground or downhill. It’s easier.

I hate running uphill. Imagine a gallon of brine pumped down a well into a rock formation a mile deep. (Similar to where it was before coming out of the ground with natural gas.) Where will the gallon of water naturally want to go? The water will stay a mile deep or go deeper if it founds a crack. That’s the law of gravity we all have to live with on earth.

How can that gallon of water defy gravity and make its way through a mile of solid rock UP to where our drinking water is at around 100 feet? The law of gravity says it can’t. That’s why we don’t see ground water contamination from below. We can get emotional, pass new regulations or get a court to rule the law of gravity is void and water can defy gravity. Doesn’t matter. The water will still remain deep underground.

As a professional engineer I have been involved with hundreds of contaminated water wells. 100% of the time contamination came from ABOVE, typically, a septic tank or drain field. One farmer drilled an un-cemented water well next to his pigpen so he didn’t have to haul water. Guess why his water well was contaminated? It wasn’t from brine 4,000+ feet below.

In some cases, people dumped or buried waste. Like a service station who dumped antifreeze and oil behind their station. It was proved “fracking” wasn’t the problem. All wells, production or injection have multiple strings of cemented casing. Lynnda and I have lived among gas and oil wells for 50 years. Neither we or our neighbors ever had a water contamination problem. Injection wells have additional regulations to protect drinking water.

Facts are important but people usually make decisions based on emotion and try to justify them with logic. Technical people are at a disadvantage if they can’t connect with people emotionally. The facts won’t matter. Passion and emotion in messaging and sales is powerful whether a product or an idea is being sold. Our passion and emotion can show if we believe in what we are selling. It’s hard to hide how we feel.

All three of our children left West Virginia because there weren’t jobs here at the time. Lynnda tells me, “You are consumed by Shale Crescent.” I can’t hide my passion. I believe in the work we are doing to bring back high wage jobs and raise the standard of living for people working in the Shale Crescent region. In a relationship, the words “I love you” are important. Non-verbal communication and HOW they are said will determine if they are believed. Passion helps.

When people in power lie, use half-truths or don’t understand basic science and engineering, poor decisions result based on emotion and fantasy, instead facts. In the 2010 movie GasLand, producer Josh Fox lights a flowing water faucet at Dimock, PA enraging the public. Josh’s narrative was, the evil natural gas industry was destroying our water. At a showing in Virginia, I was an Association President and first speaker following the film. I was curious where Dimock is located. On a Pennsylvania map I noticed Salt Spring State Park nearby. The park name aroused my curiosity. Calling the park, I reached a ranger. She loved the park and excitedly told me all about it from the beginning adding, “In winter when the ponds freeze over, if you drill a hole in the ice you can light the water!” The Drake Well in 1859 was only 59 feet deep. Shallow oil and gas are common in Pennsylvania. The water Josh lit had nothing to do with “fracking”. People have been lighting water in Dimock for over 100 years. I told the audience that story with passion. The woman who set up the movie showing called the next day. “I don’t know what you did. Those people were mad at the oil and gas industry after the movie. But when they left they were mad at Josh Fox and Hollywood for fooling them.”

Passion sells. Technical people can learn to be memorable by adding story and passion to presentations. People make emotional decisions. It’s important to understand facts before buying ideas or products.

Greg Kozera, gkozera@shalecrescentusa.com, is the director of marketing and sales for Shale Crescent USA, www.shalecrescentusa.com. He is a professional engineer with a master’s in environmental engineering and over 40 years’ experience in the energy industry. He is a professional speaker and author of four books and numerous published articles.