Are You Reading This in a Meeting?
Someone is talking right now, aren't they? In their mind, they are sharing invaluable wisdom. To you, it sounds like: yadda, yadda, yadda.
(Look up. Make eye contact with the speaker. Nod your head a few times. I'll wait.)
Why are you forced to spend SO much time pretending to listen to people who have nothing of value to share? Is it deliberate cruelty? Does someone hate you? That can't be it, because just look around the room (slowly... don't let anyone notice) and you will see that plenty of other people are also struggling to stay awake.
Here's the awful truth: most people who bore you to tears THINK they are effective communicators. "Today was great," they might report to a friend, "I got to speak for 17 minutes at the Executive Council."
Meanwhile, the EC members composed shopping lists in their heads and counted the days until they get to vacation in Aruba.
Are you ready for an even more awful truth? If you go more than a couple of minutes without doing something unexpected and interesting, you - yes, you - will bore others.
YOU. WILL. BORE. OTHERS.
Long ago, when I was studying at Wharton, a friend of mine had to give a speech to his class. In mock anger, he slammed the tip of a knife into the podium; the knife literally vibrated side to side as students snapped to attention. Of course, today that tactic would bring hordes of police into the classroom, but at the time it served his purpose: he signaled that his would not be an ordinary boring student speech.
(Look up again. Nod and smile - just slightly - at the speaker. Make eye contact.)
You only have three choices:
1.) Be boring, just like the person who is boring you right now.
2.) Hide for the rest of your career, and never give a public presentation. (Hint: this is not a great career move.)
3.) Be different, provocative, attention-grabbing, and unpredictable. This SlideShare will show you how. It was originally intended for people with pure intentions, but it will save anyone - you included - from putting audiences to sleep:
Bruce Kasanoff is a ghostwriter for entrepreneurs. Learn more at Kasanoff.com. He is the author of How to Self-Promote without Being a Jerk.
Multilingual Patient Services Assistant, Inventory/Purchasing at Michigan Medicine
9 年I once had to give a 5 minute presentation in a communications class. I picked Reno air racing as a topic. Being the aviation nut that I am, I may have gotten a little too excited and overly technical for my audience, but that was one of my better speeches.
Hardware Design & Development | Signal Integrity, Power Integrity & EMI Simulation | EMC Design | Silicon Evaluation Platform Design & Post-Silicon Validation | Engineering Management | Project Management
9 年Very interesting one, and seems to be very effective way draw the attentions of the audience. I would try to implement it in future.
FinTech Nerd | Product Leader | Financial Inclusion Advocate | Speaker | Thought Leader | Startup/SMB Champion | Women Techmakers Ambassador | Money 20/20 Amplify 2024
9 年There is not much worse than standing in front of a room and noticing members of your audience are disengaged for whatever reason. I've found myself giving presentations more often than I'm comfortable with in the last year and that's about to increase, so I appreciate these tips to help make me a better, more compelling presenter. I have to admit though, I'm at a loss on how to be provocative. :-)
Mental Health Counselor at Miami-Dade County Public Schools
10 年Than you.