Confessions from Behind the Slides of My Latest Presentation
Let me tell you what really went down…
What really happens before something great comes to life:
A little procrastination, a lot of overthinking, and then, THANK GOD, when it finally starts to click.
Before anything big that I need to work on, I’m the queen of procrastination. I guess that part is normal.
The part that isn’t that normal is how the bigger it sounds, the more delicious, the more tempting it is for me to make commitments I probably shouldn’t be making. It’s like going to the grocery store when you’re hungry. Yeah, I do that too.
Anyway, welcome to the world of the ADHD mind.
I once heard a doctor speak on the subject, and I’ll never forget his analogy: an ADHD brain is like a Ferrari with bicycle brakes. That right there is the most accurate description I’ve ever heard.
So here lies the dilemma: big ideas, a great appetite to do—well, everything—and then reality hits.
I make all sorts of decisions about when and where I’m going to work on my project that has a deadline in the not-so-distant future. Then the moment comes when I know I’m supposed to be brainstorming and creating away… but wait! There was that face cream I saw online. Oh, and I should vacuum under my bed. And before I know it, night falls, and I’m too tired and decide to do it “tomorrow.” And then tomorrow comes, and the same thing happens. As time tightens, so does my chest, along with the familiar cocktail of worry and guilt.
Step 1 is always the hardest. A blank page offers no inspiration. The only way around it is to start with a baby step.
While building my last presentation, *Storytelling in Presentations* for the headquarters of Italy’s most prominent bank, all it took was copying and pasting an old slide—and then it all began.
Days, minutes, and seconds—my everything becomes consumed by the world of my audience.
Yeah, I’m damn good at what I do. I don’t say that to convince anybody of anything. It’s simply something I’ve earned because I’ve worked (and still work) really, really hard… and not just at developing skills or going that extra mile. I fight hard to understand myself and the world around me, unpolluted by judgment, fear, or thinking I know better than others—because I don’t. If I did, my life would be perfect. And just like every other human on the planet, I don’t have it all figured out.
Building something like *Storytelling in Presentations* is a co-creation process. My audience is my inspiration; my hard-learned lessons and experience help me pass on information to those who haven’t had the opportunity to connect those dots. Dots that open your mind, help you grow, achieve your own interpretation of success, and ultimately reach great levels of satisfaction—even when your life might not look great on paper.
The real challenge isn’t in explaining stuff, in this latest case, what storytelling is. It’s in showing people how to feel concepts and ideas on their own skin. It’s figuring out how they can take all that you’ve introduced to them for a ride so that they can *get it.*
Every time I do a workshop, there’s that moment when everyday people with high-level job positions drop their guard, and you see the light go on inside them.
From confused, doubtful, tired, and often skeptical, to suddenly energetic, attentive, engaged, and curious. I get to witness a lot of “clicking” going on in the minds of everyone in the room.
When that happens, all of the endless hours of work, funless weekends, missed sleep, and the inconsistent income stream pay off big time.
Maybe it has to do with fifty being just two years away, and a sense of resolve over life in general… but being invited to listen in on their world for just a few hours and witness the mental upgrade they just gave themselves sure gives me a high.