“So whatcha gonna do?” —Jim Brown addressing Richard Pryor

You’ve got this presentation coming up…

How exactly do you propose to turn this assignment into a Win, for yourself, your boss, your colleagues in the department, your company, your client, your community and your kids? Your “Constituents.” Whatcha gonna do?

Let’s establish what a “Win” is. How will we know it, when we see it?

Consult Aristotle. He conceived the universe as a combination of Aesthetics: The Beautiful; Science: The True; and Ethics: The Good.

In more practical terms, that suggests that a presentation should Work — Physically:

It should be easily visible. It should arrest one’s attention. It should be attractive, clean, sharp, powerful. The speaker should be focused, commanding, unique, clear-eyed and willing to connect. It should be, in its own inimitable way — Beautiful.

Let’s consider the second component. It should Work — Intellectually:

It should have a clear Call to Action, a specific Intended Outcome, an Argument that makes sense to the listener, a clear Internal Structural Integrity, a flow, a surface economy — yet with the implication of deep underlying supporting research. It might even be Lyrical in possessing a thematic direction — touched by the opening, the agenda and the main idea… It should be clearly — True.

And, as the crowning achievement, it should Work — Spiritually:

Touching on what’s best for all its constituencies. It requires a lot of discovery to see how deep an initiative might reach. How can it be good for the Speaker and Listener, those in the room, those outside the arena and their communities, for other living things and the environment and for the human spirit — “for the next six centuries.” It should be deeply, comprehensively — Good.

Achieving all that, constitutes a WIN.

That’s whatcha gotta do!