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She opens her mouth to speak. And nothing comes out. She knows what she wants to say, but she can’t remember those simple words that she practiced saying all night in her apartment.
The little voice in her head is telling her, “This isn’t going well.” She doesn’t need this pointed out to her.
THE LESSONS
Her hands are shaking and she starts to sweat. God it’s hot in here. How can it be this hot in February? She’s turning red now. She can’t remember the words. The goddamn words she memorized.
THE FOUNDATION
The first year Art Director steps to the front of the room. It’s her turn to explain her work—to defend her work—to sell her work. She knows that it doesn’t matter how good the work is if she can’t convince the decision makers in the room of just how good it is.
Her field of vision begins to narrow and the room starts to blur. She’s feeling dizzy.
To the best of my knowledge, this has never actually happened at the Brandcenter. Or anywhere, that I know of.
THE TRANSFORMATION
And then she starts to melt. Slowly at first, but then more rapidly. And like the Wicked Witch of the West, she turns into a puddle on the floor of the Lecture Hall.
Yet, it sounds familiar, doesn’t it? A bit exaggerated to be sure, yet strangely familiar.
And knowing that this can happen, how can we be expected to be confident when it’s our turn in front of the room?
THE WORK
Because we’ve all either been there ourselves, or seen something eerily similar happen before our eyes.
Let’s take a step back and approach the presentation with a fresh perspective and a few practical suggestions.
(continued)
THE FUTURE
I believe the single biggest reason that we lack confidence in a presentation setting is that we approach the situation from the wrong point of view and with the wrong set of expectations.
