Presenta-Zen! — Quotidian — 372

(Transcript of video originally posted 23 Jan 2022)

Do you remember this person? He appears in the movie “Baahubali”.. What was he trying to say? He is wanting to convey something. Even if we couldn’t understand the language AT ALL, somehow we were drawn into the story, we were made to believe he was threatening us, the setting, the story, the environment, the dress, the body language, .. goes beyond language.. This is enough for us, to convey a story. The art of presentation. That is the topic for today.

Namaste!

A book titled “Presentation Zen” caught my eye. A book focused on the Art of Making Presentations. How to design them, how to plan them out, how to deliver them, beautifully. Zen… In the Japanese Buddhist style… A book by Garr Reynolds. In this book, I liked many things about it. But, what was extra special about this book?

Well, it refers to another book inside it. That the world is changing.. That there are two halves to the human brain. There is a bias now towards the right side of the brain. Yes.. the right-brain left-brain — people have been discrediting it as a myth. But, beyond that, to not just look at the logical bits but also the holistic aspect of everything — is important, says Daniel Pink, the author. And, these New Age people that Daniel Pink describes in his book, … a New Age of Conceptualisation from the Age of Information, if we are to deliver presentations to these people, what are the methods and approaches? That is what the Presentation Zen book covers so amply. It gives a very detailed description about how to approach it.

In the Whole New Mind book, the author talks about six aspects — six important aspects that comprise our thought process. And, so, in the Presentation Zen book, the advice from the author, Garr Reynolds, is that a presenter has to look for ways to address these six important aspects in their presentations. What are those six aspects? Let us look at them!

Number One is Design. It is not just the function. Not just whether it works. Design. The moment you hear Design, you shouldn’t start thinking picture, color, paint. Which is why this quote by Steve Jobs is so important. It is not about what it looks like, what it feels like, it is about how it works! The moment you think you are designing something, if you recall “color”, “frame”, “shape”, “structure”, “size”, probably you are not doing it right.

While talking about not doing something right, this comes to mind. They said it was the best-designed ship. The Titanic. We know what happened. They were giving more importance to the shiny brass doorknobs probably, than to whether will it float?! Design. We need to redefine the meaning of the word “Design” itself. So, do not jump into choosing the typeface, the font, the size, the color of your presentation, prepare the content first. Prepare the concept first. Beat it around. And then, get to the brass tacks.

The second aspect is Story. If you go all the back to the Cave Man, you wouldn’t find a classroom, you wouldn’t find people reading and writing. Even before all that, the first communication started around storytelling. Do you know how large a lion I saw? Do you know what a strong blow I dealt it then? The storyteller goes on, and the others follow his every word with rapt attention. Probably the world’s first profession was Presenting! Do you realise? He has even pulled it off without any slides! So, it is not just argument, coming up with your logical proposal, it is also about an emotion-laden story. So, even before starting to think about your presentation, ask yourself what story you are going to tell. What are you going to do to motivate, inspire and move us…?

Look at this picture, for example. Is there a story? Can you create a murder story around this? Can you create a happy family meal story around this? Can you create a mystery around this? Left to you. But, everything has a story to tell. Let us not forget that!

The third aspect is Symphony. It is not only about focusing on the bits and pieces, the component parts, it is also about how they all come together. How do we weave them? How do we combine them, thread them, summarise them, and present it as one unified whole?

The word symphony may remind you of this.. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, perhaps. But go beyond that. Yes, music is composed of the seven notes. Sapta Swaras.

But, what about words? Every sentence anybody ever wrote is composed of words. A million words perhaps, in the English dictionary. Every word is composed of these 26 letters. Nobody is going to invent a new one. So, it is about putting the pieces together.

What about the periodic table? Any matter you see anywhere in this universe, is probably just made of 118 elements, they say.

If we go even further down, probably neutron, proton, electron, and if you divide them even smaller, there is a quark, there is a lepton, there is a hadron, there is a boson, component pieces. Don’t worry about the component pieces, don’t worry about inventing, discovering, coming up with something, postulating something new… Look at the old stuff, connect them interestingly, and present to us. People do not come to an orchestra to listen to new sounds… They come to listen to their old friends, their old notes, composed and strung together interestingly.

The next aspect the author talks about is Empathy. Empathy basically means it is not just about speaking, it is also about understanding whether you are being heard! Empathy, in the context of a presenter and an audience is, to understand from the audience’s point of view. This, incidentally, is Manikandan Vembu, the COO of Zoho Corporation.

He had visited Zoho Schools, where I work, and we had an hour-long conversation with our students. Time seemed to have stopped — the talk was so engrossing. Towards the end, he launched into a mini-lecture of sorts! I proposed to him — if we could continue this for a bit longer.. The students were interested and engaged.. Immediately, he brought back a memory from his school times. He said, I have attended many such lectures myself. And, sitting in the last bench, our only unasked question would be, when will the man finish talking! I know the student mindset! No talk can last longer than an hour. However interesting the person is. And, I know how I have been doing. He demonstrated that humility (of course) and self-knowledge. A great example of empathy. This is in short supply today. Most presenters. Most communicators… forget about the most important aspect of listening for feedback. While performing, are they listening, are they engaging, are they resonating, is something that is very important to observe and know.

The fifth aspect is Play. Again.., Corporate? Official? Business? We immediately tell ourselves, no way, we can’t mix it with pleasure, fun, play. What you are seeing is a TED Talk. A TED TALK! This guy, a scientist, his name is Clifford Stoll, see what he does. See what ALL he does.

Anybody seen a slide? Written on the palm?

Animated. Excited. Nervous Energy! The guy sitting behind is Anderson himself. The guy who created TED for us all. What’s wrong with this?! So, let your hair down. When you present, if you are too serious all the time, you give the impression that you know everything. That you have figured out everything. Let us all agree that there are things that cannot be figured out. There are things you cannot break your head at any more. Humour. Fun. Tongue-in-cheek. Is a great escape valve. Use that.

And, finally, Meaning. Every one of us, we are in the quest for something. We are searching for something. Could be, Reason for existence. Could be Solutions. Could be New Approaches. Could be, an Audience for a philosophy or a concept we have come up with. Most important thing here is… it is not just accumulating whatever we encounter, it is about putting them together and seeing meaning.

We are standing like this… Actually though, we are standing like THIS. In this darkness, in this ocean, where we are probably just a nobody, a light in my hand too, let me also shine mine too.. You respect me as an individual, all of you are here. Here is something that I want to put forward. Please take it, and check if that helps you in your quest for meaning. That is how we should finalise this.

So, these are the six aspects in The Whole New Mind, and Garr Reynolds of Presentation Zen tells us to keep these in mind when going about building our presentations.

But, I want to share a closing thought here, could be a negative thought. The point is, I felt he stabbed me in the back. Look at the cover for the book. Presentation Zen 3. He has even mentioned it in an interview. It is simple. Look at the cover. Simple. Doesn’t even say Third Edition. Just Three. Isn’t that a mistake? What would we immediately think? When we see Three? We would be misled into looking for One and Two. Yes? Because we would assume this is the Third Volume. Am I wrong? So, make things simple. But, don’t oversimplify, and end up confusing me. I felt stabbed in the back. I don’t know about you. Three! Thank you!