We can get better at meetings by learning what makes better presentations.
A show of hands. How many of you have sat through bad presentations?
Wow! How can there be more hands than people? Next question, how many of you have given bad presentations?
Hmmm. A bit more hesitant to shoot our hand in the air, aren’t we? But I’d say we still have a solid majority.
Think a second or two about what made them bad, what made them boring, what made you either fall asleep or want to run out of the room like someone announced a performance by the International Out-of-tune Madrigal Choir and Metal Shop.
When I said presentation, you probably thought about attending a conference, auditors sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in rows of chairs facing a presenter, a projection screen, and a PowerPoint presentation, with your primary focus being obtaining CPEs. Or you thought about lunch, sitting at a circular table, maybe having to turn your chair away from the remains of the rubber chicken, craning your neck toward a speaker, a projection screen, and a PowerPoint presentation, with your primary focus being obtaining CPEs.