Nobody Does It Better

By Scott B. Schwertly, Founder and CEO of Ethos3 Communications

In 1977, Carly Simon had her hit song, Nobody Does it Better, peak at #2 on the Billboard charts.  You may remember the opening line and chorus:

Nobody does it better
Makes me feel sad for the rest
Nobody does it half as good as you
Baby, you're the best

This song was obviously written about love and not public speaking, but did you think, “Baby, you’re the best” about the last person that presented to you?  Probably not.  I didn’t.

John F.  Kennedy once said, “The only reason to give a speech is to change the world,” and each day there are about 30 million presentations given across the country. It’s hard to imagine that these presentations are positively changing and impacting lives. They’re probably ending lives due to the overuse of PowerPoint and bullet points. In all seriousness, there is clearly a lack of presentation training in America.  We live in a business culture that abuses presentation software and the art of public speaking.

Let’s change it.

So how do we do accomplish this great task?

It involves focusing on three core areas:

Outstanding Content
Building a great presentation is about doing great preparation. It involves doing research, homework, and asking the right questions. Unfortunately, the reality of public speaking is that preparation is the most important facet of any great presentation.

It’s amazing how an effective presentation can deliver more results than an entire year of slaving behind the desk. Presenters need to take prep work seriously. Prepare and then prepare some more. There was a recent blog post that highlighted the charisma of Illinois Senator, Barak Obama during his keynote speech during the 2004 Democratic National Convention.  In 16 minutes and 25 seconds he shaped America’s view of him.  Let’s fast forward to 2006 where in Time Magazine’s cover story they pose the question:  “Why Barak Obama Could Be the Next President.”  One presentation can change everything.

Excellent Design
“Less is more.” These are the infamous words of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a famous architect and advocate of simplicity. Presenters are like architects. We craft blueprints and then share our masterpieces with those in the audience. Every word, every slide, and every handout needs to be closely inspected to match the laws of simplicity.  It's a delicate balance of art and science where "less is truly more."

Think creatively and eliminate the junk.

Amazing Delivery
Aristotle taught about three presentation components: pathos, logos, and ethos. Pathos refers to the ability of the speaker to win over an audience with emotions. Logos refers to winning the audience with evidence and letting them know that you are an expert, and most important - ethos refers to the credibility and virtues that one brings to the table. It’s about winning an audience through trust. 

The lesson here is that building trust wins people. Winning people delivers results.

Every presenter has the opportunity to inspire, encourage, or even change the world.  It’s not a “got to” moment.  It’s a “get to” moment.  Let’s get back to the basics because “Baby, don’t you want to be the best?”

Learn more about Scott B. Schwertly in our Contributor's section.