A gambler's guide to giving talks - by Benn Stancil

A bewildered audience is better than a bored one.

If you're good at something, they say, never do it for free. Accordingly, nobody’s ever paid me to give a talk. But I’ve given enough free ones that I’ve realized that there are only two types of presentations: Forgettable ones, that waste away on YouTube with 18 views; and memorable ones, that bestow their creators with the lifelong benefits of having done something Good. Nearly every talk is the former, and nearly everyone goes to every talk expecting it to be the former. With the exception of presentations that are intentionally inflammatory or inappropriate, presentations have a floor…

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