A friend sent me a copy of the Business Life section of the Financial Times last week.  Stefan Stern, stefan.stern@ft.com writing On Management, notes the last two presentations he actually enjoyed and remembered anything about contained very few slides.  “One speaker,” says Stern, “offered only pictures and no text.  This allowed her to create and sustain the illusion of spontaneity.”

He also notes that in I Hate Presentations, James Caplin says too many people are stuck in the “school-essay” mindset of imparting information.  Here’s a link to Amazon.com if you’d like to check out this new book: http://www.amazon.com/Hate-Presentations-Transform-powerful-approach/dp/1841128090/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217281470&sr=8-1 

The big message is we get all wrapped up, telling a long story about the past, present and future of our companies, sticking to this incredibly dull formula, that the whole thing is “lifeless.”

My thought?  If you hate presentations, your audience hates YOUR presentations.  If you go in with that attitude, you won’t fool them!  You can try to fake your interest, but they won’t buy it. The secret to having audiences love you is to LOVE YOUR AUDIENCE!  Embrace the art form of standing and speaking to people.  You’ll enjoy it.  They’ll enjoy it. 

To read the full article go to: www.ft.com/stern

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