- Presentation techniques have changed drastically, or rather the possibilities have. Also, people want two or three simple takeaways burning in their consciousness when they leave the room - most Executives, and many specialists, are too busy explaining how complex their world is and how clever they are to be able to deal with it. The presentation is for the audience, not you.Take some real coaching from experts on how to make your presentations captivating. Alternatively decide to watch one TED Talk on Youtube a day for a month, and reflect on what techniques seem to have most impact.
- Be more aware as to why you are giving the talk. What is your message? Why is it important to your audience? How many Executives are just presenting a message prepared by the Strategy Department or Investor Relations staff. Audiences are captivated by passion, and examples. No-one likes meetings held for meeting's sake; nor do people like going to presentations just "because they have to", or it is politically correct.
- People take laptops to meetings these days. Many young managers are used to flitting from one activity to another and back again, especially if they know that a source (you!) adds little value - just watch youngsters doing several things at once and still get their degrees. Many now also use their laptops to make notes on; goodness some might even twitter your thoughts and wisdom out into cyberspace.
In a recent FT Management column, a CEO bemoans the loss of impact on, and concentration of his audience. Can he ban IPhones, Blackberries and laptops from the room, he asks? The answer, from me at least: NO. Over the past months I have been to a number of presentations, I have also delivered quite a few. Let me state up front, I do not believe I am the best presenter ever, but I try to learn from the mistakes or good practice of others and to incorporate them in my own style. Here are a couple of learnings I have gained this past year. Many speakers have not altered their presentation style for years - it shows. If anything, the simple rules that were obeyed in the early days of the PowerPoint have faded away as "Word" memorandums have gradually been displaced by "overly charged" PowerPoint slides.
1 Comment
This blog entry actually occurs elsewhere, on the site of Enterprise 2020 webpage of CSR Europe, and relates to an ethics workshop held in Brussels to explore the concept of Ethics Management and the practicalities of maintaining an Ethics Programme in the face of commercial pressures.
In the presence of Kings: The Practicality of Ethics Management| PUBLISHED: NOVEMBER 21, 2012 Author: ANTHONY SMITH-MEYER, Editor-in-Chief of a new Journal of Business Compliance The setting was worthy of the topic. Surrounded by portraits of the Kings of Belgium, the CSR Europe Workshop on “Best Practice Ethics Management in the Financial sector – Integrating Values within your Organisation” – organised together with theEuropean Academy of Business in Society and in partnership with Business & Society Belgium – was hosted by BNP Paribas Fortis in their Hall of Kings at 20 Rue Royale in Brussels. It was an event billed to explore the meaning, purpose and impact of Ethics Management and its relationship to the values driven agenda of Sustainability, as applied to the financial sector in particular. The gathering set about a review of questions such as:
Against the backdrop of cries for ever more regulation and governance, the participants reflected on the sobering thought that the financial industry had governance aplenty during the years leading up to the crisis. The conclusion therefore is that it was the human factor that was the differentiating factor, emphasising the need to promote a different approach to business and the manner in which decisions are made. The projection of authentic corporate values, mirrored or led by a sustainability agenda, aimed at a greater engagement of employees and increased levels of trust between the firm and its customers; was this not the way forward? The workshop gamely discussed the proposition and set out a picture of “ethics management” in industry and commerce that can only be described as “work-in-progress”. KPMG presented their conclusions of a CSR Europe commissioned study of ethics management within the financial industry, confirming with only very few exceptions, a relatively low degree of maturity of conscious ethical management initiatives within the majority of firms included in their research. The Workshop was quick to conclude that the development of an ethics management approach requires an understanding of, and focus on the positive drivers of integrity, going beyond current attempts to place obstacles in the way of misconduct through endless additional regulation. Catch words such as the promotion of integrity, transparency, accountability, clarity of roles, and stewardship are only a small sample of concepts raised and discussed as KPMG toured the range of varied contributors to the debate drawn from stakeholders such as the public policy-making and regulatory worlds, shareholders, industry groups, shareholders and civil society in particular, noting a relative silence from employee and consumer organisations on this difficult topic. The Dutch financial sector supervisor, the DnB made a commendable presentation of their expectations and methodology when evaluating firms in respect their culture of ethics; all information being readily available from their web-site. This admirable leadership in regulatory transparency was applauded by the workshop participants, leading to a lively discussion of:
|
My IntentThe content of this blog is to raise questions, reflect on events and provide ideas that are useful to the cause of integrity and ethics in business; and occasionally the odd observation that appears to me to be a little unusual. Follow me on Twitter:
@smithmey Archives
June 2019
Categories |