“Everything here is a TLA!”

One of my colleagues used to say “Everything here is a TLA!”  (three letter acronym).  We use acronyms without even thinking.  During presentations I sometimes hear a TLA (or other multi-letter acronym) used that I don’t know, or remember. My favorite is EBITA – earnings before the deduction of interest, tax and amortization expenses (I had to look that up – again). The presenter assuming that the audience is familiar with the same acronyms they are is a sign of the “curse of knowledge”.  Being afflicted with the “curse” means that once you know something well you cannot go back to the state where you didn’t know it; you may… Read More

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Be a boy scout…

The “Be Prepared” motto has been used by the boy scouts for over 100 years. Being prepared means being in a state of readiness to do your duty; it’s about making the necessary preparations to handle situations that will or could occur. As a presenter you need to be prepared to deal with a variety of situations that can throw you off or cause the audience to disengage from your presentation. This can dilute the message you are trying to get across. I’d like to share some of my experiences about what can go wrong, and how to be better prepared. Technical problems If you are presenting at a conference, make… Read More

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Connect with the audience … Knowing me, Knowing you

I went to an ABBA tribute band performance a couple of weeks ago.  They were theatrically and musically very good, however for the first half of the concert they did not connect with the audience.  For me this was puzzling; ABBA songs are upbeat and popular.  But the applause was only polite, there was no clapping, people did not sing/dance along when invited, and it actually became uncomfortable.  As I thought about what they were doing/ not doing to cause this disconnect, I realized that these are the same things that apply to presenting. From a physical perspective the singers were mostly at the back on the stage, even though… Read More

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