Should I Make A Formal Presentation?

The following comes from TJ Walker’s upcoming book “The Wisdom of Your Audience”. Consistently, the worst advice speakers and presenters get, comes from everyone who is NOT your audience. The following gives examples of some of the WORST advice people are often given. It is followed by the advice of your audience. Listen to them. They are your true judge and jury.

Should I make this a formal or informal presentation?

Your boss: “These are important client prospects–this had better be your best formal presentation!”

Your marketing department: “We’ve already written and approved the PowerPoint slides, and they’ve gone through legal. So make this a formal presentation.”

You: “Wow, this is scary. I don’t know half of the people in this audience. I better make this a formal presentation so that I can give myself some cover in case anything goes wrong.”

***

Your Audience: “Formal? Informal? We don’t care! As audience members, we are only aware of two kinds of speeches, good and bad. We don’t car if you are sitting in jeans or standing in a tuxedo–just make sure that what you have to say is interesting and relevant to us. You can be formal or informal, but if you waste our time or bore us, we will tune you out in 3 seconds flat and start reading email on our Blackberry's.”

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Publisher: TJ Walker
Managing Editor: Jess Todtfeld
Creative Director : Kris Gentile

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