Leading without slides
Instead of proposing that speakers emulate Steve Jobs, Annie Fisher, writing in Fortune, (and quoting J. Lyman MacInnis’ recent book The Elements of Great Public Speaking: How to Be Calm, Confident, and Compelling), offers some of the best advice on public speaking I’ve seen from a mainstream columnist:
“The more visual aids you use, the less you come across as a leader.”
Despite conventional wisdom, a speech is not a collection of PowerPoint slides. In fact, the best speeches and best speakers often don’t use slides at all. The Gettysburg Address PowerPoint gag aside, of the 100 most important speeches of all times, exactly zero used slides.
Try your next presentation without slides. If you know what you’re talking about, it’s not as difficult as you think, and you just might find yourself connecting with your audience in an entirely new and more effective way.
