You wont win fitting in.

Stephen Bailey in the book he co-authored, "Life's a Pitch" makes the very clear point that, in life, if you want to be remembered you dont want to look like everyone else.  The point is very valid with presentations.  If you want to have you & your presentation remembered, have your message heard, you have be prepared to step away from the ordinary and be different from those that precede you (or follow you).

Being different isnt about being weird, its about having the knowledge of what makes you, your product or your message unique and then the confidence to express that.  In the most part, its simply a marketing exercise.  Like a brand you, and your presentation, must have a distinct identity...something that sets it apart.  The marketing landscape is filled with "me too" type products that are resounding (not surprisingly) unsuccessful.  I would assert that there are more presentation failures where the speaker has gone in with a standard template, little thought as to the structure of what they want to say or clarity of the outcomes of the presentation.  Then they have shot themeslves in the foot with bullet points!(pun TOTALLY  intended).

If you want to have some powerful insights & strong justification for being different, read "Purple Cow" by Seth Godin, an oustanding book that really shows how becoming great today is different from the past.  Something nearly all FMCG marketers should listen to and is a must read for presenters.

 

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