Presentations need to be aimed at changing something… It’s a pretty bold and bare statement, I know but it’s based on a lot of experience. I believe it’s critical in a number of different elements of presenting but any kind of evangelism is pretty unpopular these days. After all, if we stick our necks out and say “I believe in. X” we’re likely to be mocked and ridiculed.
Or are we?
Personally I ‘d say it was a brave man that mocked Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Or Martin Luther King. (Or me, for that matter when I have the bit between my teeth. :) )
In any case, if you’re not trying to change something and not sticking your neck out, you’re much more likely to give a boring presentation and waste everyone’s time. And if you waste my time I’m actually more likely to mock you, be annoyed at you and think less of you than if you’ve tried, with passion, to change something but not managed it…
So you might as well stick your neck out!
Don’t get me wrong – even with passion you might not achieve anything, but without it you certainly won’t. It’s not a magic bullet.
In the jargon of trainers, it’s not a ‘sufficient’ thing, but it’s a ‘necessary’ thing….
I just read (and commented) on another post about going out of your comfort zone in order to succeed. Many people are so nervous about going on that interview, presenting in front of that audience, or taking a stand for what they believe in, all because there’s no guarantee that there’s a light at the end of that tunnel.
But as you mentioned in your post, there’s no guarantee you’ll win if you do, but you’ll DEFINITELY lose if you don’t. I think that rings true in so many aspects of life, love, and everything in between.