I saw a tweet this week that the presentation pioneer Nancy Duarte practiced over 200 hours to prepare her TED Talk, of 18 minutes. That, friends, is commitment, perhaps not surprising for someone with real professional skin in the game but it made me think: I wish all presenters invested even a small percentage of that intent into their presentations.

“@mkrigsman: Preparing for TED talk, @nancyduarte spend 200 hours and 38 hours rehearsing for 18 min talk. #cxotalk” #PKyvr33 #WOLyo!

— Jonathan Anthony (@ThisMuchWeKnow) June 28, 2014

I know it is only 400 seconds of people’s time, but hey, people paid to be here. I have seen a few pecha kucha videos recently where people did not invest enough energy in knowing their transitions or crafting a meaningful narrative. No-one can fault me for trying!

Speaking of Duarte, one of her very compelling stories is how Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream speech has an up and down cadence that maps to Steve Jobs’ iPhone product release presentation. Say wha’!

There is a rhythm of ‘what is…’ to ‘what could be…; ‘what is…’, what could be…’; repeat, repeat.

This is something worthy of exploration in my narrative as I weave together what I did – working under the stairs – with what it means – the future of work. Hmmm. Practice, practice.

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