Wow, do we like to get it right in a presentation.
Often, this looks like offering a lot of coverage of a subject. We say we’re being informative. But in this day and age, we don’t need to be informative in a presentation or talk; we have the internet for that. And more to the point, the intention to get it right is about the speaker, not the audience. The audience usually assumes that you are getting it right, so ironically, the more you insist on giving layers of detail, the more it seems like you’re working too hard.
Confident leaders aren’t afraid of getting questions, even ones they don’t know the answers to. They are nimble communicators, so they feel they can talk about a topic with the intention to engage the audience and trust that “getting it right” will take care of itself. In fact, in this case, to get it right means not the details or the data, but the connection with the people.
What are the telltale signs that we are trying to get it right? If you’re adding detail, running over your allotted time, or shoehorning more data into your talk, you’re probably trying to get it right. However, if you know exactly how you want to affect your audience, and you are ready to support that message with stories, examples, and data, you are using a deliberate, positive intention.
