Present in Your Audience, Not to Them.

One of the things I was most worried about before BlawgThink was how the presentations would go on Day One.  We had a phenomenal lineup of speakers, but they were presenting in a non-traditional setting (Catalyst Ranch).  A lot used MindManager, some PowerPoint (or Keynote), and some nothing at all. 

As I wandered from presentation to presentation, the thing I noticed was that it seemed our speakers were presenting in their audiences, instead of to them.  There was very little physical separation between speaker and audience, and I think the presentations were better as a result.

Speaking of presentations:  One of my new favorite blog reads is Garr Reynold’s Presentation Zen.  For a great intro to Garr’s blog, check out his post comparing Bill Gates’ and Steve Jobs’ presentation styles.  I was particularly taken by the contrasting visuals used by each.  Just look at the slides and tell me which presentation you’d rather attend.