… from a friend while he was sitting and listening to a presentation:
“Why is it that consultants who get hundreds of thousands of dollars are always so boring? Blah, blah, blah. Do they think the more they talk, the smarter they are? WRONG!”
My initial reply – “they need messaging and speaker training” – was too self-serving. Then I answered the question, “The simple answer, though, is yes.”
Yes, people do think the more they talk, the smarter they are. Self-importance is the kiss of death in life, but it’s the death of an audience when it infiltrates a presentation. It violates my #1 rule, which is: it’s all about them, the audience; it’s not about you!
After thinking about what it’s really like to sit through the bluster and blather of self-important speakers, I re-grouped and sent this:
“You know what you guys need for those presenter chairs in that meeting room? A good old fashioned whoopie cushion! Yup, that’s what you need … “
His reply? “Brilliant!” I thought so too.
Communications Coach at SmartMouth Communications
SmartMouth Founder and Principal Beth Noymer Levine is a Communications Coach who is emerging as one of the country’s leading voices on how to prepare and deliver speeches and presentations that actually work for both the audience and the speaker.
Latest posts by Beth Levine (see all)
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