One good story, better than 10 flashy slides

As one of six speakers at a recent event, I had the chance to observe & learn from some truly exceptional leaders in the world of Training & Development. I was amazed by the amount of research, data and business process models they had developed for their companies and were presenting to the audience. This being one of the few times I had been asked to present without the option of using a slideshow, I opted to highlight a few measurable success stories to illustrate the value my company brings to our clients through the Training department. My few minutes in the spotlight may not have imparted a "Ninth Secret of highly effective people", but they were one of the few times during the session that I noticed the audeince nodding and laughing in a way that told me they were engaged. I think there's an important lesson here--whether your role is that of speaker, manager, parent, friend, spouse, people will respond better to one good story than scads of good data or 10 flashy PowerPoint slides. And the best data tells us that people learn better when they're happy. So if you can get somebody laughing, it's a good sign that they're getting your point.