演说之禅职场必知的幻灯片秘技05.pdf

Hara Hachi Bu: Why Length Matters A consequence of Zen practice is increased attentiveness to the present, a calmness, and a good ability to focus on the here and now. However, for your average audience member, it is a safe bet that he is not completely calm or completely present in the here and now, but is instead processing many emotional opinions and juggling several issues at the moment—both professional and personal while doing his best to listen to you. We all struggle with this. It is virtually impossible for our audience to concentrate completely on what we are saying, even for shorter presentations. Many studies show that concentration really takes a hit after 15-20 minutes. My experience tells me its less than that. For example, CEOs have notoriously short attention spans while listening to a presentation. So the length of your presentation matters. Every case is different, but generally, shorter is better. But why then do so many presenters go past their allotted time, or milk a presentation to stretch it out to the allotted time, even when it seems that the points have pretty much been made? This is probably a result of much of our education. I can still hear my college philosophy professor saying before the two-hour in-class written exam: Remember, more is better. As students, we grow up in an atmosphere that perpetuates the idea that a 20paper will likely get a higher grade than a 10- page paper, and a one-hour presentation with 25 PowerPoint slides filled with 12pt lines of text shows more hard work than a 30-minute presentation with 50 highly visual slides. This old school thinking does not take into account the creativity, intellect, and forethought that it takes to achieve a clarity of ideas. We take this more is better thinking with us into our professional lives. One Secret to a Healthy Life (and a Great Presentation) The Japanese have a great expression concerning healthy eating habits: hara hac