by Gilda Bonanno
I once saw a speaker start a presentation to an audience of two
hundred people by saying, "Of course, unlike all of you practitioners, I've
been a consultant for the past several years, so I am out of touch with
industry practices and what you face every day.”
What??
 |
| He started his presentation by saying what?? |
Perhaps he was trying to compliment the practitioners in
the audience. Perhaps he thought it
would sound self-deprecating. Perhaps he thought it was a humorous stereotype about consultants. Whatever
his reasoning, it was misguided. As a result, he essentially
started his presentation by admitting that he had nothing valuable to say
because he was out of touch about the topic. Why should the audience
listen to him (and worse, why should the association have paid him)?
While you shouldn’t go to the opposite extreme and start your
presentation by bragging about your fantastic accomplishments, I would have
thought it was obvious that you should never begin by admitting how little you
know about the topic and how disconnected you are from the everyday realities
of the work.
By the way, this was no rookie speaker – he is someone who is
considered an expert in his field and has been paid to speak in front of many
audiences. And he should have known better.
The next time you have to give a presentation, learn from his
mistake – don’t start by proclaiming your ignorance.
| Sign up for Gilda's Newsletter & receive a FREE REPORT: 7 STEPS TO CONFIDENT PUBLIC SPEAKING |