All Talk

“More than words is all you have to do to make it real.
Then you wouldn’t have to say that you love me.
‘Cause I’d already know.”
More Than Words — Extreme

Despite the omnipresence of cute little screens and the preeminence of video, the go-to method of corporate presentation is still all talk, all text, all numbers, all the time.  (And the smaller the better.)  There may be no more powerful example of how corporations have parted company with the base culture.

The next generation is already inside the wall, ladies and gentlemen.  The barbarians have kicked in the gate.  10-point Helvetica text (in tasteful grey) in a margin-to-margin phalanx, just doesn’t cut it any more.  Resistance is Futile.  The sleep inducing effect of this single narrow channel communication would be hilarious if it were not so unconscious.  Hey.  It’s time to wake up and come out from behind your equations!

“I’ll believe it when I see it!”  Words can be read to you.  Pictures however, need to be seen.  Their pictorial presence requires — and dictates the terms — of a visual encounter.  They are immediate and even more descriptive than the written or spoken word.  They must be seen to be believed, and to be understood.  And they make a thousand words — less important, if not redundant.

Adding a visual, a picture to a presentation was once both expensive and time consuming.  Now, the visual world is kicking in the door, changing the nature (and reducing the professionalism) of news gathering and public discourse.  So, when doing a “presentation” (introducing a thought, an activity or a thing), you might want to consider the power of three dimensions: Words, Pictures and Direct Experience.

“I hear and I forget.  I see and I remember.  I do and I understand.”—Proverb

Words may come first, but they don’t have to…  One usually finds the way into building a presentation by wrestling with what to say about something.  Then by considering how to picture it; and finally, by imagining how to create a physical reality for the audience to experience first-hand…

Usual Sequence: Words, Pictures, Touch, Sensation, Emotion.

But there’s no requirement to do it that way.  When composing, think instead about what you want the audience to do; then consider what and how they might have to feel to go along with your desires.  Then, what would they have to see or experience?  Finally, what might they have to hear?

Very few great presentations have taken place in empty rooms.  Remember: you and the audience are in this together.

It’s all about the audience.  What they know — or don’t.  What they need.  What they think they want.  What they are willing to hear.  That’s where it starts and ends.  You are only in the room as a means to an end — for them!

Their need (and curiosity) is your passport to be in the room, and your compass, as you find your way into their regard.  Your job is to make reality a multi-dimensional experience.

Applications

1. For You
Bring a Prop.  Wear a Costume.  Do a demonstration.  Create an exhibit.  Set up the room.  Build a model.  Each of these requires just a little more time, but can yield a powerful multi-dimensional experience.  What’s that worth?   Well, it’s hard to put a price on being both understandable and memorable, but it’s worth it.

2. At Home
Everything competes with the little screen which seems to provide entry to everything, everywhere.  But it can’t teach kids to swim, to negotiate, to build a fire, or to defend themselves, either physically or spiritually.  Reality is deeper and more significant than an electroluminescent screen.  So take the family out to throw pottery, paint the house or a picture, ride a pony or hike the gorge.  Reality bites! Let them feel it firsthand and they’ll never be the same.

3. At Work
Want to give weight to your presentation? Go see the people with whom you’re thinking of investing.  Walk the factory floor.  Meet the Founder!  Learn their story.  When you present to the committee, all that experience will infuse your discussions with more facts of course, but also with a more substantial reality — that of firsthand experience.  And your pictures and videos will make those experiences more real for your audience.

More than words.  More than incomprehensible text on a screen.  Make your next interaction more significant, more meaningful and more effective by helping your audience see it, touch it, experience it and participate in it.  Life is so much more than words!

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