WEBVTT 00:00:10.092 --> 00:00:15.332 To keep people engaged, we have to constantly tailor our presentation. 00:00:15.357 --> 00:00:19.741 Now, I'm not talking about being able to "ad lib" here. I'm talking about 00:00:19.766 --> 00:00:24.281 "planned spontaneity." In other words, we have to think and plan ahead. 00:00:24.306 --> 00:00:26.503 Um, let me give you a couple examples. 00:00:26.700 --> 00:00:31.500 We've all been in situations where someone comes up with a question that 00:00:31.525 --> 00:00:33.879 stumps us for a minute or two, right? 00:00:34.014 --> 00:00:37.885 That's when we need to create a "breathing space" to direct attention 00:00:37.910 --> 00:00:41.548 away from us and give us a chance to collect our thoughts. 00:00:41.722 --> 00:00:45.870 Sometimes that's as simple as directing the question to someone else. 00:00:45.895 --> 00:00:49.248 As you can see, the trend isn't looking very good at this point. 00:00:49.273 --> 00:00:52.443 I don't mean to interrupt, but something just occurred to me. 00:00:52.468 --> 00:00:53.519 Sure. What is it? 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:57.735 I heard a rumor IT is planning on phasing in a new operating system next year. 00:00:57.760 --> 00:00:59.330 How's that going to effect what we're taking about? 00:00:59.355 --> 00:01:00.977 That's a good question. 00:01:01.002 --> 00:01:02.005 Um, Mary, what do you think? 00:01:02.030 --> 00:01:04.732 Is it going to cause problems for us if they roll out a new OS? 00:01:04.763 --> 00:01:08.070 Well, actually, it might. I mean, I heard with this new OS program 00:01:08.095 --> 00:01:11.466 that it's going to cause some issues with our legacy databases. 00:01:12.215 --> 00:01:14.503 Well, we'll be sure to take that into consideration. 00:01:14.709 --> 00:01:18.154 Tailoring our presentation with a breathing space 00:01:18.179 --> 00:01:20.845 can give us the chance to collect our own thoughts 00:01:20.870 --> 00:01:23.360 and figure out the best way to respond. 00:01:23.730 --> 00:01:26.967 Now, another great way to tailor our presentation 00:01:27.070 --> 00:01:31.835 is to make sure we're prepared to communicate information in a variety of ways. 00:01:32.109 --> 00:01:35.792 For example, if we're going through a lot of complex data - 00:01:35.817 --> 00:01:39.193 and we see that glazed over look on someone's face - 00:01:39.487 --> 00:01:43.575 we need to be prepared with some visuals to help get our point across. 00:01:43.742 --> 00:01:46.198 So, if we push the lead time on this, 00:01:46.223 --> 00:01:49.225 we will cut down the idle time down by 10% or more. Right? 00:01:49.250 --> 00:01:52.042 Sure, if you say so. Is something wrong? 00:01:52.236 --> 00:01:55.498 No, no. It's just that staring at these printouts. 00:01:55.523 --> 00:01:57.657 After awhile it's all just mush. 00:01:58.125 --> 00:02:02.639 I'll tell you what. I dumped everything into a spreadsheet and ran some graphs. 00:02:02.664 --> 00:02:10.206 Oh, okay. Yeah. Just being able to visualize it like this really helps. Thanks! 00:02:10.476 --> 00:02:14.848 Here's another one. How many times have we been in a situation where 00:02:14.849 --> 00:02:20.037 we're trying to inspire, inform or influence someone and... we get interrupted? 00:02:20.069 --> 00:02:24.786 You know, the person we're talking to gets a call and has to bail out on us early. 00:02:25.044 --> 00:02:27.218 It happens to me all the time. 00:02:27.353 --> 00:02:30.582 Now, in those situations, we need to be ready to 00:02:30.607 --> 00:02:33.554 tailor our presentation by condensing things. 00:02:33.721 --> 00:02:37.447 I did a little informal survey a couple of weeks ago and... 00:02:37.669 --> 00:02:39.268 Sorry to interrupt. Yeah.. what is it? 00:02:39.293 --> 00:02:41.905 Mickelson called. He said he needs you to call him back right away. 00:02:41.930 --> 00:02:44.915 He said something about the Zemax deal? Okay, thanks. 00:02:45.430 --> 00:02:47.239 Look, I'm sorry. But I really need to make this call. 00:02:47.264 --> 00:02:51.084 That's okay. I understand. But if you could give me just two more minutes, 00:02:51.109 --> 00:02:53.261 I put together these bullet points. 00:02:53.620 --> 00:02:55.158 I'd like to go over them real quickly with you, 00:02:55.159 --> 00:02:58.347 and then maybe we could just schedule a follow up to answer any questions. 00:02:58.372 --> 00:03:02.111 Okay. I can give you two minutes. Great. Thank you. 00:03:02.439 --> 00:03:07.394 Constantly tailoring our presentation is important because, like I said before, 00:03:07.419 --> 00:03:11.984 we're generally not talking to a brick wall; we're talking to human beings and 00:03:12.009 --> 00:03:13.934 in other words, moving targets. 00:03:14.020 --> 00:03:18.079 So, we need to be prepared, on the fly, to do things like.... 00:03:18.259 --> 00:03:23.551 Create a breathing space. Use visuals, when appropriate. 00:03:23.955 --> 00:03:28.109 And condense our presentation down to the bare essentials. 00:03:28.596 --> 00:03:33.498 You see, when we have the ability to be flexible and tailor our presentation 00:03:33.499 --> 00:03:38.028 in the face of changing situations, we're going to be able maintain interest 00:03:38.029 --> 00:03:40.842 and make our message compelling.