by 
One of the most vexing comments I hear from fellow listeners to a talk is that there was “nothing new here,” particularly in listening to non-futurists. I would hope that as a futurist we are not often overwhelmed with totally new ideas. It would suggest we have a problem with our scanning. In other words, we should not often be surprised (of course, occasionally we will hear lots of new things, and we should be quite thrilled about that).
I would say that our standard for judging a talk should not hinge on whether we heard anything new, as we will often be disappointed. Rather, our approach should be to look for twists, tweaks, interpretations or insights – ways to scaffold upon what we already know. Personally, it is pretty rare for me to hear a talk and not find at least one new twist or some new idea that I could put to use. So we listen with an attitude of openness and learning rather than trying to find flaws in the argument. We look for take-aways, rather than building a case to pass judgment. Sure, not every talk we hear will seem worth it, but I’d challenge us to take away at least one useful idea from every talk we hear.
Not only will it be more useful to us, but it creates a much more pleasant and useful learning environment – it makes us good colleagues rather than disgruntled consumers. As someone who speaks a lot, I can feel the energy of an audience, and when the audience is open and enthusiastic, I usually do a better job. There is an old saying in the bible that “there is nothing new under the sun.” Depends on your perspective. Andy Hines
Good advice Andy. Sometimes it is frustration at hearing someone who has a great grasp of his/her subject who could take the next step of talking about what it all means–and doesn’t do it.