On the 5th slide, I had to stop my client and ask, "Where the heck ARE you?" She'd been rehearsing her presentation for several minutes, flipping through pages of her PowerPoint deck without really looking at, or referencing the dense material on each slide. It wasn't the first time I'd seen executives ignore a deck they didn't like..PowerPoint that had been forced on them by the organization. But you know, 'ignoring it won't make it go away,' and by doing so you cause confusion. The solution is interpreting each slide. Tell the audience what specific point you'd like to focus on, pause and elaborate. You can even step aside, or click "B" on your keyboard to take the PowerPoint down for a minute and remove the distraction. That's the way to deal with the deck that's been given you!
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