What American Idol Can Teach About Presenting to Execs
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December 14, 2012Want to wow your boss with your next presentation? In Oct 2012 I developed the SlideShare deck 5 Tips for Presenting to Executives where I compared executives to Simon Cowell – difficult judges who were always on the hunt for talented presenters.
I was therefore flattered when Dirk Hannemann, a communications trainer in Berlin, Germany, took that metaphor and developed this inspirational video. I love the use of contrast, showing the skeptical judges at the start and then their shocked and amazed faces at the end.
That’s your goal. Not merely to inform – but to wow. Now, go nail your next exec presentation!
About the author: Bruce Gabrielle is author of Speaking PowerPoint: the New Language of Business, showing a 12-step method for creating clearer and more persuasive PowerPoint slides for boardroom presentations. Subscribe to this blog or join my LinkedIn group to get new posts sent to your inbox.
1 Comment
This is a ridiculous comparison. The Idol programme is a highly contrived, highly edited, carefully choreographed ‘contest’. The presenters, crew and judges all know who the potential ‘stars’ are, well before they step on stage. The judges then play up to the cameras by faking shock and disbelief as the truly talented performers. That’s why the most talented contestants are given much more time to tell us how dreadful their lives have been and the personal challenges they had to overcome. It’s better TV if we think the judges were surprised. But they’re not. They’ve heard the audition tapes. They know what’s coming.. (You can even see many of these people performing on youtube, well before they entered Idol.)