Life is a Series of Presentations

In the most literal sense, I make presentations for a living. I speak before groups of people, sometimes thousands at a time, almost every day. And I get paid to do this, so you might think of me as a professional presenter. But what if I told you that those presentations are only a fraction of the number of presentations I make in a day? In fact, when I talk to large groups on my subject of expertise, I often begin by asking the audience how many presentations they make in a 24-hour period. Usually these are men and women from the ranks of management, so their first thought is of the laser pointers and the other toys, of the sales calls and the pitches to colleagues. One or two a day might be their initial answer. But then, with little prompting, a thought begins to dawn on them. What exactly is a presentation, anyway? Is a presentation defined by the size of the group and the coldness of the room, or is it defined by what you are trying to accomplish at that moment?

As the light of recognition begins to shine in the eyes of my audience, they reevaluate their initial answer. Maybe every time they formally communicate to a superior or customer, that’s a presentation, meaning they make presentations dozens of times a day. Maybe every time they need to win a colleague over to their point of view over the phone or by e-mail is a presentation – meaning they make presentations scores of times a day. Maybe every time they try to convince anybody, anywhere of anything – in business, at home, on the phone, in person, one-on-one or in groups – that’s a presentation. In which case, they might actually make hundreds of presentations a day!

Your life is full of opportunities. And these opportunities are a reflection of the choices you make daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. Your success in life depends upon how you approach the millions of opportunities before you. Unless you’re a hermit living on a mountaintop, your life largely consists of your interactions with the people around you. In the office, unless you’re everyone’s boss, you can’t choose all your colleagues (in fact, it’s more likely you haven’t chosen any of them). You can’t usually pick your boss. And rarely can you choose your customers. Yet all these people hold tremendous sway over your daily progress through the work day and, as important, the ultimate success of your career. So you might not have chosen to work with them, but – consciously or not – you would like to have a degree of power over how much you can sway them.

In our personal lives, we often have more influence over those people with whom we surround ourselves, but even then we cannot assume control of their moods or thoughts. If a person in the family unit does not wish to cooperate in the family’s daily activities, that’s going to affect all our happiness. If the members of our family cannot convince one another to behave in compatible ways, then we’re all going to be miserable.

Imagine how much your time on earth would improve if you could prevail at most of these crucial moments. Not a single one of them may change the entire course of your life, but winning that other person over to your point of view with regularity almost certainly will help take you where you want to go. If we can do that, then we can advance the quality of our existence. Mastery of the art of making presentations takes us closer to the outcomes we desire. It also provides a powerful confidence boost that will guarantee you more success in all aspects of your life. So, welcome to the journey of discovery…and remember, life truly is a series of presentations.

Tony