SECTION I So... YOU have to give A PRESENTATION

BEFORE YOU DESIGN

The credibility of a speaker depends not merely on the strength of her prepared arguments, but on the audience’s perceptions of the speaker. This was the reality taught by the ancient Greeks and Romans, renewed again during the European Renaissance, and evident still today.

Presentations today are rarely staged, one-way affairs. People are often tweeting, posting, texting, and chatting with others around the world as they listen to you. If you step onto that stage with a flimsy story or a visually feeble presentation, the world will know immediately. Gone are the days when you could get away with being dull. Step up to the challenge.

You may be an incredible dullard in real life, putting people to sleep right and left, but at that podium, you’re a star. You’re an entertainer, an educator. Put on a happy face and kick ass ... or get off that stage.

J.H. Lehr, “Let there be Stoning” in Ground Water