Episode #200: Business Presentations Are Not Boring, But You May Be

We have all grown up in business watching internal presentations at our firms. It might be a big announcement, a town hall, a shareholder’s meeting or just a weekly meeting. Then we have those cases where we go outside the company and present to clients, industry groups, Chambers of Commerce etc. The sad thing is that rarely are any of these presenters any good. How can that be? None of the things I have mentioned are new items. These types of presentations have been given, in one form or another, since we had things called companies. The people giving them are not stupid. They are invariably well educated, well experienced and talented. Not too many companies want useless, stupid people speaking in front of others or representing the brand. So why don’t we see scintillating and sizzling business presentations as the norm?

There are cultural norms. In my experience, America seems to have an education system and society, where speaking up is encouraged and blowing your own horn is not an issue. As an Australian, that is an issue. We have a thing there called the “tall poppy syndrome”, which means that any poppy flower that tries to get above everyone else, gets cut down to size. Japan, interestingly, has the exact same concept with the “derukugi” (出る釘は打たれる) idea, where the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. Every other country falls somewhere on this scale of self-aggrandizement with America and Japan, probably being the bookends.

When you make a presentation you are thrusting yourself forward. This can be a booster for your career or a career limiting disaster, or something in between. The interesting thing is very few people are able to make it a career booster. Part of it can be self-limiting beliefs about your ability to actually stand up in front of others, without quivering like jelly, from head to toe. Another part of it can be possessing no concept of the importance of the act of presenting and its solid link to career building. Companies promote people who are articulate, clear and persuasive, because they know these are the requirements for leaders. Many specialists imagine their technical ability will carry the day and they can get a free pass on being capable as a presenter. That is possibly true but only up to a point. If you can’t be persuasive, your technical abilities are not a substitute when firms are considering who to promote into leadership roles.

So we could expect that people who are motivated to push forward in their careers and get to the top echelons of the company, would all be rushing out to get trained on how to be a professional when presenting. Rarely the case in fact. Well why is that? Part of it can be the concept of “good” is the enemy of “great”. They are smart enough to do a good job and have concluded that is enough. Or they may still be clinging to the belief that being a great lawyer, doctor, engineer, architect, accountant, dentist, etc., is the first and only order of priority, as far as building a successful career goes.

When the people around you are equally talented and knowledgeable about their profession, how do you stand out? There was a little known Senator from Illinois who projected himself to national attention at the Democratic Convention, eventually becoming America’s 44th President and the first African American to do so. Barack Obama did that by giving a great presentation at that Convention, in a political world packed to the gunwales with thrusters, self-promoters and self-aggrandizers.

Business is fiercely competitive, be it winning the client or winning the promotion. Changing our mindset about presenting and facing the reality of being able to present well, in order to advance through the ranks, is a necessary starting point. Next we need great training to stand out amongst the crowd. Even though most business presentations you have ever seen have been boring, you don’t have to join the ranks of those dud presenters. With the right mindset and training, you can quickly advance to the top 1% in your field as a presenter.

Look around you and quickly realise, it is not crowded at the top. Idea application is all, so take action and get properly trained.