Career development

HBR: What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

These tips are for business professionals who are already comfortable with giving presentations—and may even be admired for their skills—but who, nonetheless, want to excel.

twa-2020-01-crowdsourcing-hbr-presentations.jpg

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

“You’re very successful. You’re considered a good speaker. Why do you feel as though you need to improve?” I asked.

“I can always get better,” he responded. “Every point up or down in our share price means billions of dollars in our company’s valuation. How well I communicate makes a big difference.”

Read more...