Albums on which all songs sound more or less the same are boring. Speaking voices that lack variety in pitch, volume, and rhythm are boring. Watching grass grow and paint dry is boring. And so is listening to a business presentation consisting of nothing but facts.
I recently had the displeasure of listening to a guy who was “All facts, no substance.” He was relating a history of sorts, and never once ventured an opinion about the facts he was reciting. “What did he want us to think about the facts?” I wondered.
As a young guy starting out in the speech coach business, I was flattered to be hired by Dr. Peter Aarons, a renowned researcher at Rockefeller University. He had testified before Congress on several occasions, and complained that he and his colleagues were good at facts, but not so good at advocacy. He wanted me to help him.
He described his problem, echoing Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner:
Data, data everywhere
And not a thought to think.
He was fully aware that facts are simply a form of information needing to be turned into meaning for the audience, meaning that needs to be imprinted on the mind of the audience.
The art of business presenting comprises facts, opinions about the meaning of those facts, and the effort to imprint that meaning on the listeners so that they will think or do something.
Facts do not speak for themselves.
Sims Wyeth & Co. provides public speaking courses, executive speech coaching, presentation skills training, voice and speech training, speech writing, and courses that address stage fright, body language, presentation strategy, and effective use of PowerPoint, all of which contribute to greater executive presence and personal impact.