I enjoyed a wonderful flash of realisation moment this week.
I was at a pitching event at Cambridge Enterprise, the commercialisation arm of the University.
I’d taught the entrepreneurs the art of pitching and presenting a couple of weeks before…
And now it was time for them to do their stuff, showing off their ideas.
I’m delighted to say they did brilliantly, with some excellent presentations, as you can see above.
The entrepreneurs had absorbed everything I covered, put it into practice, and with style:
The start of the presentations were spot-on, the endings uplifting and memorable, the narrative thread clear, the use of slides simple and effective, no jargon and incomprehensible science or academic speak, some lovely storytelling…
In short, a full house of everything we had worked on.
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But! It was when I was thinking about the body language of the presenters that the lightbulb moment came.
They were doing exactly what we had discussed:
Not hiding behind a lectern, but striding out, dominating the room, showing confidence and authority.
I checked with a couple of the entrepreneurs at the jolly pleasant drinks reception after the event…
And they said exactly what I had thought:
- We saw how effective it was, the way you taught the workshop, walking around at the front, showing your command of the moment. So we did likewise.
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I had also practised everything I preached in the teaching, from a striking start, to an enduring ending, and all else that I mentioned above.
The group had seen it all in action, and didn’t need any more convincing of the effectiveness of the various elements.
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Which was a simple but resounding lesson for me.
Whether in teaching, public speaking and presenting, leadership, or whatever:
Don’t tell people what to do…
- Show them.
It’s always far more powerful for getting a message across.
