A Blog with Tips & Tricks for Enlightened Presenters
But it’s Just an Update
But it's Just an Update The question most status reports are dodging. Eric Harris August 28, 2026 Every Update is a Story of Change We’re three hours into a workshop, building the architecture that makes people believe something. The whiteboard’s full. The coffee’s cold. A manager raises his hand. “What if we don’t present to…
Stop Replacing Yourself
Stop Replacing Yourself In a virtual presentation, the deck doesn't just compete with you. Eric Harris August 21, 2026 “Can Everyone See My Screen?” The odds are high someone sang this refrain to you at least once in the last week. Like a dinner bell for virtual presentations, this line has permeated corporate culture. The…
Hi, Stakes
Hi, Stakes 5 presentations where the deck does damage Eric Harris August 14, 2026 They’re Deciding Whether to Believe That’s the test. “High-stakes” has nothing to do with how many people are watching, or whose logo hangs behind you. It’s all about whether belief is on the table. Most presentations don’t clear that bar, and…
What do You Reach for When It Counts?
What do You Reach for When It Counts? Probably what your hands already know. Eric Harris August 07, 2026 “It Works,” You Tell Yourself Everyone defends the almighty deck. The meeting happened, nobody objected, the thing moved to the next gate. That means it worked, right? So let me ask a meaner question. When did…
If Nothing Moved, Did Anything Happen?
If Nothing Moved, Did Anything Happen? Your "best" presentations might accomplish nothing at all. Eric Harris July 31, 2026 Ask the Only Question That Pays Stop worrying about whether you’re a good presenter. Not because the answer would flatter you. Because it’s the wrong question. You’re the medium. The idea is the thing traveling through…
What Happens in the Silence
What Happens in the Silence What if your bravest move isn't something you say? Eric Harris July 24, 2026 Most leaders can't stand three seconds of silence. They ask a genuinely good question. Then, before anyone can breathe, they rescue it. They answer it themselves, or stack a second question on top, or laugh and…
The Room is Never Neutral
The Room is Never Neutral You design it, or you inherit it. Eric Harris July 17, 2026 Say Yes to the Duress So many pitches die before anyone speaks. The death occurs weeks earlier, in a two-line email, when somebody agrees to the wrong room at the wrong time because that’s what was available. I…
Ban the Deck. Examine the Habit.
Ban the Deck. Examine the Habit. Jack Dorsey, the U.S. Army, and Jeff Bezos agree on one thing. Eric Harris July 10, 2026 The Room That Learned to Shut Up In 2004, Jeff Bezos famously banned PowerPoint from Amazon’s leadership meetings. In its place, he required a six-page narrative memo. Meetings started in total silence…
You Always Could
You Always Could And when you realize it, it's liberating. Eric Harris July 03, 2026 You Inherited This Somewhere along the way, you learned presentation = deck. It’s unlikely someone sat you down and taught you. You watched. You absorbed. You inherited. The deck became the work. Or so it seemed. And every high-stakes presentation…
I Want You to Feel Something
I Want You to Feel Something Not know. Feel. Eric Harris June 26, 2026 God Only Knows What’s the obsession with wanting you to know? Pull up your favorite album. Any decade. Any genre. Odds are, somewhere in the lyrics, somebody sings the line, “I want you to know.” Selena Gomez belted it over a…