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Presenting = running a long distance race?

January 27, 2013 9:41 am ⋅

Yesterday I attended a Masterclass course on presentations providing guidance and tips on how to move your presentation style from competent to outstanding. One of the most interesting insights I have taken away from the course is that presenting can be compared to down hill skiing (Piero Vitelli).

I have done many presentations over the course of my career, in fact, my most recent job involved presenting every day in one form or another! So I have always considered myself a good and experienced presenter. That delivering presentations is like skiing was a revelation to me. I have come back from the course and have read up some more on effective presentations and found that another author compares the art of presenting to swimming (Jerry Weissman):

“To teach swimming, coaches take novices through the component skills in progressive stages. The first lesson takes place out of the water, at the side of the pool, where the novice learns the arm stroke and the leg stroke separately. Then the novice gets into the shallow end of the pool and practices the arm strokes and leg strokes, still separately, but now with training equipment — flotation devices, kick boards and the rungs of a ladder — to develop the skills further. As the training progresses, the novice puts aside the equipment and swims, first in the shallow end of the pool, then the deep end, and finally, in a lake or ocean. The fundamental aspect of this approach is to deconstruct the basics and then to reconstruct them progressively. It works in swimming … and it works in presentations”.

I find that these are very interesting analogies so I have decided to come up with my own one.

I personally would compare presenting with running a long distance race (maybe 10k since I have done a few and know how it feels) and the period of time you are training for it. One of the key reasons for it that the sheer amount of time one has to train to be in great shape to run (or walk!) the 10k course. The same applies to presentations – the best presenters in my opinion put in days and hours of hard core preparation, research, planning and scoping out.

Secondly, an aspiring long distance runner would be building up their strength and endurance gradually, first starting with say a 2k course, then gradually increasing it to 5k and so on until they reach the magic number. Same goes for presentations: you build up your skill and confidence with more and more practice. You can’t expect to come out on stage or even in front of a small group of people and appear (and most importantly feel!) very confident and deliver an outstanding presentation. It comes with practice (consistent, continuous practice) – same as for running long distance.

A long-distance runner would normally warm up before they start their run – same applies for presenters. To deliver an outstanding piece, one would need to perform a simple warm up a few minutes before they are due to present – be it a brisk walk, some voice and breathing exercises.

In training for a 10k race, a runner would normally attempt the course maybe a few times before the race itself. An experienced presenter would aim to do a similar thing – to practise their presentation a number of times with either colleagues, friends or just in front of the mirror or with the help of the video recorder.

While training for a 10k race, runners usually choose to do so with a running mate – to support and help them improve faster. I believe in presentations, PowerPoint slides play the role of a running partner by supporting the information he presents but not overtaking and overpowering at the same time. The presenter is the main person while the slides provide the background support and encouragement and something to fall back.

These are just a few of my own thoughts on how presenting is similar to long-distance running.

By the way, have a look at this video of Hans Rosling doing an amazing presentation based purely on numbers – living proof what an impressive presentation you can produce even with a lot of dry numbers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo

Have you experienced/delivered outstanding presentations? What are your tips on how to present well from your own experience?

Dasha Amrom

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Is the MBA losing its appeal?

January 25, 2013 9:39 am ⋅

I have just read a blog by Rita McGrath at Harvard Business Review. She was commenting on the article published in the Wall Street Journal claiming that the appeal of MBAs has been diminishing over time with more and more business schools mushrooming in the US and globally. I am attaching the link to the article itself below:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324296604578175764143141622.html

In my opinion as I have outlined in my previous blog, there are more advantages than drawbacks to doing an MBA. However, I do tend to agree that the supply of MBA degrees seems to have outweighed the demand for them. Moreover, a lot of the offered degrees are not fully accredited and the universities providing them are not the highest ranking in their region and in the world.

I believe that doing an MBA is only really worth it when you decide to take this course from a high ranking university. I have personally considered schools from the top ten in the UK. To some degree, I concur with people who claim that the value of an MBA is not all about the university ranking – however, think about it – which school will stand out on your CV to a potential employer – The London Business School or unknown school X just that has just recently diversified into offering MBA courses.

It is all about people psychology – the majority of people would select a candidate with the top B-school mentioned on their CV even though he may not be the most intelligent of the applicants. But the appearances still matter. This is especially the case in such vain industries as finance and sales.

I had a friend who completed their MBA at a low ranking school in the UK – a very cleaver, creative and entrepreneurial girl. She had given up her high income full-time job to dedicate herself entirely to her one-year MBA course with the hope and confidence she would get a better job after the course. This has not materialised. She later told me that at interviews, employers were not impressed with her distinction level MBA and openly asked why she had chosen this school instead of the LBS, CASS or Warwick.

Such is the story of our world – everything still seems to be superficially based on appearances, strong brands and self-marketing. Shame, but to survive and stand out, we need to be able to fit in.

Dasha Amrom

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Four reasons why I think it is worth doing an MBA and four hardest moments I have lived through in the process

January 23, 2013 10:23 am ⋅

I have recently participated in the discussion on the Guardian as a panelist answering questions and comments from the audience with regard to MBAs. Please see the link to the discussion – some useful insights there for aspiring MBA students:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/jan/21/mba-courses-investment-or-liability

I had been thinking about doing an MBA for a very long time before I finally decided to apply. That year, I quit my job and joined a large international marketing and consultancy company. I already had around 6 years of work experience under my belt and wanted to study again, to dive deeper into the financial side of running a business and to meet new people.

Retrospectively now, I have to say that I have ticked these three boxes by doing my MBA. And not only that but I also felt so much more secure after I had successfully completed the course since I knew that even in the toughest of markets, I am now well-equipped to either start my own business (which I have accomplished) or get higher in the echelons of the company I was working for.

So for me the top five reasons to do an MBA will be:

  • Expand your business horizons and become an ‘all around’ enterpreneur
  • Understand one of the hardest facets of running a company – the financials
  • Networking at the B-school will result in long-lasting friendships and connections you will always be able to rely on
  • Your MBA will ensure you feel secure and confident whatever turn the market takes

Despite all the positive aspects, my MBA path was not without its challenges and low points. The hardest moments of my MBA journey were:

  • Since I was working full-time while doing my MBA, the latter has pretty much taken all of my free time so I had very little time for any social life. So few parties and seeing friends only occasionally
  • I was super exhausted when preparing for my exams. It felt like I had run a marathon after I put down my pen after completing the last exam paper
  • I had to use all my lunch breaks, travel time to and back from work to study, read and write (and to do phone interviews for my dissertation!)
  • I had to delve into the areas that were not of much interest (or use) to me, such as operations management and I didn’t particularly enjoy the course but had to learn it from the beginning to end nonethless.

I would be interested to hear your comments on whether you think MBA is a waste of money or a great investment into your future. And of course, as always, please feel free to ask any questions you may have on MBAs in the UK.

Dasha Amrom

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