Uncategorized
Conversation > Presentation
Four Teams Followed the Rules. One Accepted Responsibility. Several years ago, I led an agency-of-record search for one of the world’s biggest brands. On paper, it was an enviable assignment. In reality, it was a pressure cooker. Sales were sliding fast enough to make everyone nervous. Our advertising had lost its edge. After multiple attempts…
Read MoreYou Are the Medium Now
When the Deck Disappears Two presenters walk into two very similar rooms. Same company. Same level. Same stakes. The first presenter arrives early, clicks through her slides, acknowledging one of her slides is “a bit of an eye chart.” She keeps one eye on the screen behind her, one hand on the clicker, and one…
Read MoreWhy Slides Feel Safe (and Why They Fail)
The Safest Room in Corporate America Before we talk about why slide decks feel so safe, it’s worth acknowledging just how dominant they’ve become. Microsoft reports more than 500 million active PowerPoint users worldwide. Roughly 30 million new decks are created every day. And the average session, from startup to shutdown, clocks in around 250…
Read MoreAesop Knew What’s Up
Aesop Knew What's Up What can we learn from the god-tier fablist? Eric Harris January 16, 2026 Welcome to Greece, circa 560 B.C. Having ideas is dangerous. Writing them down will get you punished. Publishing them will get you erased. Aesop doesn’t work in a free marketplace of ideas. Not a polite forum for debate.…
Read MoreLooking Back and Forward
It’s January. What kind of year will it be? The town hall is scheduled. The kickoff is outlined. Vision memos are circulating in half-finished drafts. Somewhere, a brand-new slide deck is born, lovingly assembled over dozens of hours, destined for one brief moment in the spotlight. Then it disappears. It gets uploaded to a server,…
Read MoreDitch the Deck. Get to Yes.
The Easy Answer Was Wrong Megan had a courage problem. Not because she was timid. Because she was responsible. As the operations director for a 1,500-person company, Megan was asked to recommend a venue for the annual all-employee offsite. The default answer came quickly from the executive team: “Let’s just do it where we did…
Read MoreThe Transaction is the Reward, Not the Goal
If your sales presentation is designed to convert, it’s probably doing the opposite. Not because your product is wrong. Not because your pricing is off. But because the moment a buyer feels sold to, trust leaks out of the room. People don’t buy when they feel persuaded. They buy when they feel understood. The transaction…
Read MoreGet Time on Your Side
Most people treat timing like a scheduling chore. They polish the slides, rehearse the story, and then accept whichever hour the calendar coughs up. You’ve probably done this too…. PRESENTER: “When can we present to [audience]?” ADMIN: “They are available at 12:30pm.” But the clock is not neutral. It never has been. Time shapes attention,…
Read MoreGet “Butts in Seats” for Your Vision
In a World Where Change Comms Fall Flat… Most change communications rush to the good news. “Team, exciting update! Big moves ahead. Bright future. Trust us.” It’s the corporate equivalent of skipping to the last page of the novel. You get the resolution… but none of the meaning. Leaders do this all the time. They…
Read MoreBoil it Down. Make it Sticky.
Lessons from a Texas Cold Front Earlier this week, North Texas slipped under 40 degrees for the first time this season. Overnight, fleece tech vests appeared everywhere and the trees finally committed to changing color. At my house, that first cold snap means warm apple cider on the stove. Cinnamon in the air. A little…
Read More