10 Jul The Minimalist
When you sing along with Peggy Lee’s song “Fever” don’t you have to do the finger snaps? Lee wrote and sang two hundred and seventy songs and excelled in multiple styles, including Jazz, Blues and Pop– a rarity for a female performer in the 1950’s. But “Fever” was her biggest hit.
Lee rewrote “Fever” and arranged it for voice, accompanied by drums, bass and finger snaps. She cultivated a cool, minimalist style. Lee said, “the challenge was to leave out all but the essentials.” She won just about everything at the first Grammy Awards.
Speakers and communicators are often confused about how much information to include. Too little and your audience can be dissatisfied. But, if you overload your presentation with too many slides, too many stats and too many points, our attention turns to lunch or the weather.
Like Lee, pare down every presentation to the bare essentials. You will never exceed your time limit and will carry the confidence that you are stepping into the arena with your strongest case, distilled into the most salient elements. And as they say in the Entertainment Industry “Leave ‘em wanting more.”
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