Saturday, May 02, 2026

Improve Your Presentations

People partly judge us on how we present ourselves, including on our communication skills. "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." Be better by applying lessons from Carmine Gallo's Talk Like TED.

Cover Three Areas

"Presentations should cover no more than three aspects in fifteen minutes." - Talk Like Ted, Carmine Gallo 

People tune out boring lecturers. The Greeks said three factors influenced others ethos (character), logos (logic), and pathos (emotion). The best talks rely on pathos manifesting as passion. Tell great stories. Paint mental pictures. 

Be Novel, Emotional, Memorable

Quality presentations had three prominent features - novel, emotional, and memorable

Be original. Everyone can be more creative, more influential. Business leaders were shocked when they heard that introverts were often the most creative people in the room. They thought the loudest voice was the smartest. You know the saying, "An empty barrel makes the most noise." 

Learn across domains. Basketball Hall of Fame Coach Chuck Daly said, "I'm a salesman." Think how you can sell yourself. 

The last song Doug Collins heard before the 1972 Olympic game against Russia was, "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?" 

Bring emotion. Make emotion a feature not a bug. Big events leave big marks, indelible mental ink. That's literally "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." 

Be memorable. Geno Auriemma took questions after a UCONN practice. Someone asked, "were you nice because you had an audience?" "No, I was nice because they're babies. If I yell, they think, "Coach hates me.""

Bill Gates gives a lecture on infections. 

 

You're a Salesman; Sell Belief

What leaves the greatest impact on people? Belief. When you hear, "I believe in you" or tell a player, "you're the best player I've ever coached," they will never forget that moment

Include novelty, emotion, humor. 

Make them better.

Lagniappe. Adversity is inevitable. Be the 'guy' who is steady, consistent in discipline, effort, and response every single day. 

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