Member Article

It's alway's the quiet ones...

With Simon Raybould of Curved Vision

In many of the things we do, we see people shying away from volunteering to present. They know about whatever-it-is; indeed they’re passionate about whatever-it-is, but for that very reason they don’t want to be the one who does the presentation about whatever-it-is. They prefer to stay in the background and let the “people person” in their team do the presentation.

Sometimes that’s right - but not always. Why? Because the presentation isn’t about the presenter. It’s barely even about the audience (yes, I know, I’m over-stating the case, but cut me some slack!); a presentation is about The Message… and The Message is about whatever-it-is.

I’m not saying that a people-person can’t do good (or even great) presentations - just that they risk getting caught up in the presentation for the sake of the presentation. And that’s not what I want to hear when I’m in the audience any more than I suspect it’s what you do.

Today’s tip? Don’t force it, but think about getting the introvert to do the presentation instead. Don’t write off the quiet one in the corner - even if they ask you to!

As always, questions and comments are welcome via sme@curved-vision.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .