Been pounding the keyboard rehashing course materials. Have seen precious little in the way of presentations of late. Thus the quietness. It’ll pick up.I did work with two folks this week and in helping them hash out their message, both essentially said, “What I want to say is…” Since both knew me and ostensibly knew Rule #1, the convulsions I experienced didn’t throw them into complete shock.Let’s review. It doesn’t matter what you want to say. It really doesn’t even matter how you say it. What do they (your audience) want to hear? And what is the best way to deliver that message to them? Focus on your audience. Always.Also had a report from someone I had (after three tries) finally convinced to stow the corporate-line PowerPoint and work off a story with pictures. The response was along the lines of, “I didn’t even get to the meat of my presentation. After my intro they just asked questions and we talked and talked and they thought everything I had to say was great.“. I’m guessing an opener of “Hi, I’m John Doe and I’m hear to talk about leverging collaborative synergy across the enterprise” would not have had the same effect. Validation, even in small doses, is good for the soul.
Your audience matters. You don’t.
