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#175 {Smooth. Not what I am} or Could your PowerPoint use some work?

Hardcore, raw bone like a razor ♦I’m like a laser, I just won’t graze ya…

Chuck D-Public Enemy ♦ Rebel without a Pause

Takeaway #175:   On a totally different mundane Monday note, let’s talk PowerPoint presentation.  Cut to the chase.  Keep your deck down to key impactful slides.  Use your pointer to highlight.  Time and attention is valuable so make your presentation short and sharp – lasering in on the essentials.  Your draft has a deck of a dozen…cut it in half.

 

Bonus:  Charts & Graphs that Work

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Takeaway #189: Credible Threat?

      “…She need to get a, piece of the American pie and take her bite out

That’s my house, I’ll disconnect the cable and turn the lights out

… see I ain’t the one who laid down

She wanna … start a … war, my lawyers stay down“

Outkast   (Ms. Jackson from Stankonia)

Takeaway #189:  An unfortunate domestic situation – BPM prefers to look at the enterprise implications today.  Litigation, war, and ultimate sacrifice have their place in corporate success.   Sun Tzu and Machiavelli have covered the ground on this one.  One point:    If a matter goes to the core of operations, there must be a willingness to “bet the firm” if it is truly essential- or at least have it perceived to be an option.  Your competitors and you must believe that all options are on the table.  This is a rare event – but a credible threat is a valuable deterrent.

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Lessons in Discretion as takeaway 5

News reporters, invade my borders If I think it I won’t say it, you might have a recorder

Run-D.M.C.   (Can You Rock It Like This ♦ King of Rock)

There are two schools of thought:  Work the Media and Avoid the Media.  Choose your poison, but be aware of the consequences.  Once you have said it; you cannot take it back.  It is either going to be repeated and distorted or it is going to be remembered.

For you pro-media types, remember that people who live in the spotlight get burned by it.  The press will take you down the first opportunity it gets.  BPM used media loosely here to mean any kind of publicity or announcement in .  This includes tooting your own horn too loudly at big meetings and broadcasting from the water cooler.

People like to repeat what you said, and they like to repeat it to the last person you want to have hear it (and at exactly the time you don’t want them to hear about it). You mouth off to your buddy that the mail room is slow and soon you are getting dirty looks from the delivery folks and your packages never seem to make it to your office or your Fedex’s always miss the cut-off.

For people who do not like publicity, recognize that you may never get where you want to be without any self-promotion.  You can’t live under a rock and still stay above the radar.  People need to know that you were part of the team that got X-project done.  It’s a feather in your cap.  Just make sure that when you are broadcasting, that you make everyone look good.  It is not the time to look small and single out anyone in a negative light.  You want to be remembered come promotion time and forgotten come layoff time.

If you are talking to the public, be above the small-minded comments of the disgruntled player.  If your expertise is corporate communications, investor relations or an analogous public relations capacity, we assume you know better – but a reminder is always helpful.

BPM TAKEAWAY#5:

  • LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS

  • IF IT’S PUBLIC, IT’S PERMANENT

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