As those of you on our e-mailing list know, Tuitive is embarking on a campaign to become sought-after public speakers. While presenting in front of a large group scares the daylights out of most people, for some reason our motley crew is really excited by the chance to get out and share our expertise with the world.
So in order to prepare for this adventure, we’ve each been developing presentations on our area of expertise as they relate to Tuitive’s core mission – then giving the presentations to each other. I spoke at my high school graduation and I’ve taught dozens of courses all over this lovely country, but this little group made me more nervous than most. Something about the fact that they all know my strengths and weaknesses, I'm sure.
I'd worked diligently on my presentation (with the thrilling title “Your Client’s User Experience”), including talking extensively to Jon (our boss), digging up relatable stories, writing notes, rewriting notes, rehearsing, and even learning Prezi (new-fangled presentation software for those unfamiliar). I put several weeks into it. But no matter how much thought I put into it, no matter how many hours, I was still bored by the damned thing. And that boredom came across when I presented to the Tuitive team.
We have a policy of being brutally honest with each other about our performances. Not cruel, mind you, but honest. Our philosophy is (1) it’s better to hear it from a teammate than go out in the world looking like an idiot, and (2) what each of us does in the name of Tuitive reflects on us all. So they let me have it: it felt rushed, there wasn’t enough audience involvement, there weren’t enough images, and so on. They were all 100% right. And I could have handed everyone a list before I even turned on the projector telling them exactly the same things.
My disinterest in my presentation came through. It’s not that I didn’t believe what I was saying, but it all seemed so elementary and common sense – like something you could find easily in 20 different business self-help books at Border’s. It didn’t feel useful and therefore I had no passion for it.
A couple months back, however, I had given a presentation to the team that I was passionate about: grammar. No laughing – I love grammar. Perhaps it’s because it’s been hammered into me since I was old enough to talk, but I have a passion for it, and it makes me absolutely insane to hear the English language butchered regularly.
You might assume that a presentation on grammar would be far more boring to the audience than one about creating a positive client experience, right? But no, the team really liked the grammar presentation – we spent well over 2 hours going through it and discussing it, and it’s definitely changed everyone’s writing and speaking styles. Although we still have the same technical skill sets we had before the grammar lesson, we all now sound more intelligent and competent in our writing and speech.
So why did this presentation have more impact than the one about client experience? Because I was able to put myself into it. I'm passionate about educating others on this subject. (I'm passionate about client experience, too, just not about educating everyone on the subject!) My enthusiasm was infectious, the audience got involved, they remembered what they’d been taught.
The irony of the poor user experience I'd created for the attendees of my presentation on improving client user experience was not lost on me. So I'm keeping that client user experience presentation, working on improving its content, getting the audience more involved, slowing down, and finding my passion for educating on that subject as well. But for the moment, the grammar presentation is out front with me, ready to educate the world about the difference between “that” and “who.”
Amanda is available for speaking engagements, and would be thrilled to give her presentation “Grammar: Common Pitfalls and Mistakes (Or ‘How I’s Be Larnin’ to Rite Good’).” Contact her at amanda@tuitivegroup.com for more information.




