Many presenters “over-egg the pudding” *. They believe that they’ll gain credibility with their audience by ‘dazzling them with data’. They feel that the audience will see them as more expert – if they keep adding more and more reasoning and evidence to any and every point in their presentation.

Not so! From your own psychological point of view, it’s very important that you view yourself as an (maybe, the) expert while you’re doing your presentation – planning and execution. Experts don’t over-burden you with ‘facts’. They choose the one, most impressive fact which (alone) will convince you that they know what they’re talking about.

It’s an important concept, this! It allows you to be basing your speech/presentation on more points and outcomes – rather than a greater depth of data, which will probably bore their socks off!

What do you think of this thesis?

* An old English expression meaning they put too many eggs in to the dessert they are making. Eventually, it’s a soggy mess!

Paul Griffiths

www.reasontospeak.com