I like making presentations. They are the best way to learn. To present to others means to distill one’s ideas in a manner that others can understand. It needs mastery on the subject. It also needs an openness to share.
In late 2021, my team approached me to do a fireside chat at a conference. I agreed. They were to pick a person and all I had to do was to ask a few questions to a guest. But with just a few days left for the conference, it became hard to get the time slots for the right people. And so, with five days to go for the conference, the fireside chat became a slot for a presentation by me.
My presentations tend to generally be a collection of slides with a lot of text. This time around, I decided to try something different. Could I do a presentation with very little text and more imagery and 2-3 words on a slide? I took that as a challenge. It was not an easy one for me, but as I started working on it, I began to like the story that was coming through. I realised it could become more gripping as I spoke through on slides that changed every 15-20 seconds. I had seen presentations like this done in the US, so I decided to give it a try.
In the process of putting it together (the title was “Winning in the Coming Martech Era: Driving Exponential Forever Profitable Growth”), I also started improving my own thinking about the topic. In the past year, I have done variations of the presentation multiple times to different audiences. I now have a core set of slides, and I pick and choose based on the audience and the time I have. With less text for people to read and eyes to glaze over, they have to listen – and that’s how I get their attention. It becomes a thriller with continuous action. To pull this off, I had to practise a lot to make sure I do not ramble or go over-time.
At an in-person conference in Goa, I covered 119 slides in 30 minutes – that is an average of 15 seconds per slide. But that is not the right way to look at it. I spoke about 5000 words and used the slides as a prop to keep the attention and engagement going. There was something new happening every few seconds and that ensured listeners had no time to check their messages or let their minds roam! I got very good feedback after the presentation. (There were many ideas presented so I offered to email the deck to whoever wanted it.)
I view each presentation as a way to sharpen my ideas. In that sense, like with my writing, I present for myself. The audience is a prop to help me make my story better. Doing presentations virtually is not something I like because as a presenter you need to be able to see the people, make eye contact, and watch their body language. Presenters are performers who need a stage – like actors and magicians.
As I have reinvented my presentation style, it is like I have found a new dimension to myself. And that’s why I believe we must always push ourselves to do things we have not done or tried before.
