When we watch TED talks, such as Rory Sutherland’s on the power of advertising, or Hans Rosling’s on the power of data, we are watching two men who know their way around the presentation platform. Both speak without notes, use… Read More »Using speaker’s notes
I just witnessed several clients reading scripts. There was something very unsatisfying about the experience for me. They lacked life and expression. They didn’t appear to mean what they were saying. Yet scripts are often useful and necessary. So what… Read More »Reading a speech vs. giving a presentation
It’s still LP Meeting season in private equity and hedge fund land, and I keep running into basic errors. Here’s Mistake #99: Not rehearsing together. I just came back from a meeting in which the Founder spoke first, followed by… Read More »Presenting in LP Meetings: Mistake #99
What is the purpose of an LP Meeting? Is it to inform the limited partners about the performance of their investments? I don’t think so. The LPs already know the numbers. They don’t come to the meeting to hear the… Read More »The purpose of an LP Meeting
At the annual LP meetings I’ve been working on, I have noticed that the senior guy wants to give his views on the macro economic picture. He wants to do this for good reasons: To put the results his team… Read More »An Emerging Problem at Limited Partner Meetings
The current shouting match going in Washington is bad public speaking. Good public speaking begins– literally and figuratively– with civility. “May it please the court,” says the lawyer. “Madam Speaker, Vice President So-and-So, members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow… Read More »Public speaking begins with civility