Has this ever happened to you?
Yesterday, about 150 corporate marketers trudged five blocks to the local hotel, went into the dull beige ballroom and sat in row upon row of hardback chairs for another "quarterly rollout." We started with "the numbers" (three charts, small font) then list after list of what we did and what we're doing next quarter. The call for 'any questions?' was met with silent stares. 90 minutes later we stood up, stretched, and trudged back to work.
Is that all there is? You get 150 people in a room to bore them to death? Honestly, a single slide with a picture, or colour even, would've knocked people out of their chairs. In this case, the only leaning forward was to look at a blackberry email.
It is so frustrating when people blow wonderful opportunities to inspire, delight and energize. Boring 150 people at a time is criminal, but how often do we do this in our small groups too? How many of your community meetings just drone on through the same agenda month after month? How many of us, in an attempt to include everyone, talk to noone in particular?
If you do this, even a little, please get help with your presentations. There are lots of good presentation examples available.
Photo credit: Stephanie Booth.