An Introvert’s Guide to Better Presentations

December 11, 2013

Written by Matt Haughey (founder of MetaFilter), An Introvert’s Guide to Better Presentations is a fun read, with a lot of useful tips for folks who may not be so terribly comfortable on stage.

Comparing the sensation of being in front of a crowd to a biological reflex, Haughey suggests turning the I’m about to be attacked feeling to something more like a they’re looking at me because the like me feeling. In his words:

The next step is to realize that those hundreds of pairs of eyes aren’t there to kill you, but to learn from you. They’re not lions and you’re not a zebra separated from the pack, they’re all monkeys and you’re the prettiest monkey and they desperately want you to tell them where the best bananas are located that will turn them into pretty monkeys as well.

There’s a lot of really good advice here, with suggestions to decrease the amount of text used on a slide, emphasizing design/visuals, and giving audiences time to “reset” during lengthier presentations. It was kind of nice to see some overlap between his suggestions and the ones I came up with (though I have taken the stage at far smaller arenas, and far fewer times by comparison).

[via MetaFilter, of course! Photo by gene driskell]

compelling read presentations

« Pringles Jenga

Framed: Official Trailer for Panel-Shifting Game »