Albums on which all songs sound more or less the same are boring.\u00a0 Speaking voices that lack variety in pitch, volume, and rhythm are boring.\u00a0 Watching grass grow and paint dry is boring.\u00a0 And so is listening to a business presentation consisting of nothing but facts.<\/p>\n

I recently had the displeasure of listening to a guy who was \u201cAll facts, no substance.\u201d\u00a0 He was relating a history of sorts, and never once ventured an opinion<\/a> <\/em>about the facts he was reciting.\u00a0 \u201cWhat did he want us to think<\/em> about the facts?\u201d I wondered.<\/p>\n

As a young guy starting out in the speech coach business, I was flattered to be hired by Dr. Peter Aarons, a renowned researcher<\/a> at Rockefeller University.\u00a0\u00a0 He had testified before Congress on several occasions, and complained that he and his colleagues were good at facts, but not so good at advocacy.\u00a0\u00a0 He wanted me to help him.<\/p>\n

He described his problem, echoing Coleridge\u2019s Rime of the Ancient Mariner:<\/em><\/p>\n

Data, data everywhere<\/em><\/p>\n

And not a thought to think<\/em>.<\/p>\n

He was fully aware that facts are simply a form of information<\/em> needing to be turned into meaning <\/em>for the audience, meaning <\/em>that needs to be imprinted <\/em>on the mind of the audience.<\/p>\n

The art of business presenting<\/a> comprises facts, opinions about the meaning <\/em>of those facts, and the effort to imprint <\/em>that meaning <\/em>on the listeners so that they will think <\/em>\u00a0or do <\/em>something.<\/p>\n

Facts do not speak for themselves.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sims Wyeth & Co.<\/em><\/a> provides <\/em>public speaking courses<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>executive speech coaching<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>presentation skills training<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>voice and speech training<\/em>, <\/em>speech writing<\/em><\/a>, and courses that address stage fright, body language, presentation strategy, and effective use of PowerPoint, all of which contribute to greater executive presence and personal impact.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Albums on which all songs sound more or less the same are boring.\u00a0 Speaking voices that lack variety in pitch, volume, and rhythm are boring.\u00a0 Watching grass grow and paint dry is boring.\u00a0 And so is listening to a business presentation consisting of nothing but facts. I recently had the displeasure of listening to a… Read More »Effective communicating: Not just the facts<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_ti_tpc_template_sync":false,"_ti_tpc_template_id":""},"categories":[144,336,24,149],"tags":[603,297,145],"yoast_head":"\n