Welcome to Issue # 3 of THE Peak Performance Newsletter

The Sales and Business Growth Corner

Why Most Presentations are a Waste of Time - Avoid These 5 Presentation Killers

For almost a decade now, I have helped hundreds of people improve their abilities to build and deliver highly impactful presentations that actually get results.
 
From executive briefings to sales presentations to proposal presentations to investor pitch decks and everything in between, I see the same kinds of mistakes being made over and over again.
 
It’s time to change that.
 
Taking a typical presentation I see from lousy (reaction: “meh – not interested”) to amazing (reaction: “wow – let’s do this!”) isn’t rocket science, but it does take some work.
 
Here are 5 reasons why most presentations fail and are a waste of time and effort:
 
1. Spray and pray approach. This is where the presenter hasn’t done their homework to figure out what are the top 3-5 things their audience most cares about relating to their topic. So they cram in a bunch of content hoping to hit paydirt but it virtually never happens.
 
2. Confusing flow. Here the presenter may have some relevant and important insights to share (or not) but has not thought about the best way to flow the content through the presentation without losing the audience along the way.
 
 
3. Overly me-focused. This is when the content is too “me” oriented. That’s to say, what I as the presenter care about or think is important and assume you will too. For example, a salesperson that presents a ton of content about “here’s how great my company is,” or “here’s how amazing my product is.” This is a major turn-off but most presenters don’t realize it.
 
4. Not matching the pace of delivery to the audience. This is another common one where the presenter either goes too fast or too slow when delivering the content. As a result, you have either left the audience behind if you go to fast or you’ve made them super bored so they check out while you’re presenting.
 
 
5. Reading slides. This is the bane of our existence when we’re on the receiving end of someone reading out their slides yet it’s funny how many presenters totally forget this when they are delivering. That said, it’s probably the fastest way to put people to sleep so if that’s your goal, go for it!
 

Maximizing Your Mental Performance

Stimulating Convergent vs Divergent Thinking

The types of questions you ask yourself and others and how you ask them can drive divergent or convergent thinking.

Both types of thinking can be good depending on your goals.

Divergent thinking is the type of thinking sparked by good open-ended questions - it causes our brains to get into brainstorm mode and come up with more creative ideas. An example: "In what ways could I/we solve this problem?"

Convergent thinking is when you narrow down your focus to a limited set of options. This is good for when you want to find out where someone stands on a particular issue or narrow your focus in order to make a go-forward decision. The form of question here would be more closed-ended. An example: "What's the core issue here that needs to be solved?"

Being able to flip your mind (and others' minds) into modes of divergent thinking and convergent thinking is a skill that's well worth mastering if you want to create better outcomes for yourself and for others.

BTW, speaking of different types of thinking, I'm working on a project to help people improve their performance by unlocking the mysteries of how our brains work. If you're interested in learning more, you can check out the details here.

Humza's Musings

I just wrote an article on how things might play out in the Middle East and have far-ranging effects, impacting people and businesses here as well. You can read the full article here: Are You Ready for a World of Pain

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And that's all for this week.

See you in my next issue.

To your success!

PS If there is anyone you know who would benefit from reading this, feel free to share this with them

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