About halfway through, I realized several parties
thought I was supposed to be leading. I felt humiliated
and angry with the person who scheduled it without
making clear who was supposed to be driving the
conversation. As another example, I once called a
meeting, scheduled it, and fully intended to run it, only
to have another colleague completely take it over. That
was also infuriating.
- Lose the Technology, But Do the Demo: Before
you waste your time creating a slideshow deck, ask
yourself, “Do I need a presentation at all?” If the answer
is yes, remember that slides should be used to keep
people engaged and reinforce your points, not make
them for you. No one is impressed by star wipes, and no
one wants to watch a video when they’ve come to hear
you speak or have a discussion with you.
:KHQ\RXKDYHDSURGXFWRUVHUYLFHWRVKRZR̆
demonstrate how it works. Don’t show pictures or
videos of it. Give your audience the real McCoy.
When you want to share information with every
attendee, send it before the meeting. Whether people
will review it in advance is another matter, but give
them the option. Then you can spend your time getting
to the heart of things (possibly less time, too).
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION (^) I SUBSCRIBE (^) I APRIL 2020
The worst
meeting I ever
attended had
no leader. It
was
directionless,
and no one
knew how to
get us on track.