I attribute the realization for this solution to my daughter. My presentations, meetings and workshops have never been the same after she revealed this simple trick top professors use at her school.

Have you ever attended a workshop or meeting where you are asked to adhere to house rules such as refraining from using your mobile phone? Silly, right? Not only does this set a bad tone (creates a lingering assumption that phones have been an issue in past meetings), the restriction actually removes a great feed-back tool. If everyone is using their phone,  the presenter will notice, hopefully, that she is doing a horrible job. It is never the fault of the subject, listener, Iphone nor circumstance. Here’s my daughter’s rationale why it’s the presenter (teacher) to blame – always.

One day I queried her about digital note taking and web surfing during class and she explained that it depended on the teacher. “Oh, so some of the teachers forbid you from using them?”, I asked. My daughter said “No, you would be stupid to use them with some teachers. We don’t even talk to each other during some classes.” She caught my attention. “Some classes”. What was the difference? A lingering threat of corporal punishment? She shook her head as she could tell I couldn’t figure out the obviousness. “It’s speed, dad.”

Turns out that the best professors kept their foot on the gas. You so much as checked your inbox and you were immediately playing catch up.  Like watching a good movie or daytrading meme stocks, everyone has FOMO.

As a side note, a generally uninterested student would already have flunked the previous grade so we can assume all listeners were motivated and wanted to be present. (This is not always the case in big corporations. I bet you know someone in the other spectrum as well, the Lego employee for whom everything is awesome).

Furthermore, teachers tend to repeat the same information year after year so it’s safe to assume their passion for the subject levels off at some point.

An analogy comes to mind. On bank holidays I like to visit the library and read in one sitting any interesting book I come across. In order to finish the book during my visit I skim through some sections, such as the prologues and dedications. In bad meetings you don’t do that. Most presenters would try to ensure that everyone in the room has understood their message, hence pacing according to the snail in the room. But any evident information, such as unnecessarily long introductions, voiced or Power Pointed, gives participants a reason to reach for their technological appendix. No one has time for anything, especially if your day is fully booked with meetings with other slow facilitators.

But pacing is not about talking fast, it’s about being concise and leaving out the fluff. Like this. Got it?

So from now on if you see someone texting while you are presenting,  just pick up the pace. If it doesn’t work… then just fire the prick.

#presentationskills #publicspeaking

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