Last September, the malevolent toadstool you see in the picture on the left thrust its slimy head out of the familiar soil of my front yard. It got my attention.
I have rarely had mushrooms in my garden, and never a toadstool with an orange stem and a phallic tip topped by a red pimple on its nosecone.
I remain horrified by the sight of it, and worried about the malicious conspiracy transpiring under ground. What other alien life form is going to come out of the earth under the hydrangeas?
Sharon and I washed our hands after we touched it, but half an hour later, we still had to scratch an alarming epidemic of itches that popped up in unmentionable anatomical places.
An otherwise routine Saturday morning was made famous by this unexpected visitor. We will talk about it for years…but for all the wrong reasons.
Some people bring toadstools into their presentations and get attention for all the wrong reasons. They tell jokes that fall flat. They wear clothes that make them look cheesy. They talk about themselves too much. They show off, pontificate, grandstand, ham it up. They go over the time limit. They scratch in the wrong places. They mispronounce key technical or industry terms that they should know. Or they use their own technical language despite the fact that the audience doesn’t know it.
It’s good to be memorable, but only for the right reasons. Not for being outrageous, or shocking, or sensational. Rather, be memorable for your expertise, warmth, and relevance.
Don’t bring toadstools into your talk to get attention. You will quickly wear out your welcome.