Gustavo Cavalcanti was kind enough to forward some early feedback from Wednesday's presentation at Fresno State...
HL,
I was really blown away by your presentation. I was being sincere when I said it was the best presentation given to our group, in my opinion. And apparently I am not alone -please read below an email I received just a few minutes ago from one of the attendees.
Thank you very much!
- Gustavo
"RE: HL’s Perfect and Mythical Presentation
Gustavo -
It's too bad that last night's presentation by HL was not taped.
The presentation was easy flowing and informative, but I realized later that I was witness to what might be called the mythical "perfect" presentation. I suspect this, on a subconscious level, is the reason I liked it.
Mythical in the sense that HL used presentation techniques that I have read about, that are promoted, that are touted but rarely actually seen in practice. By a "perfect" presentation, I mean a presentation by an anonymous speaker (no celebrity to the audience) who uses the presentation as an "opportunity" to gain the "trust" of the audience while telling an interesting and engaging "story" to describe the topic matter. The topic matter is actually secondary. The key, like HL said about Scrum, is gaining the "trust" of the audience.
HL established my interest by how he wove the fabric of the Decade story leading to the use of Scrum along with his genuine zeal. He established my trust by his candid responses and assessments. And he reinforced my trust through my strong feeling of HL's pride while talking about the team's "no defect" achievement. It was akin to leaving a movie house with a good feeling because a good movie had a good ending."
During lunch, I often walk around the block or two, convincing myself that I am getting at least a minimal amount of exercise. Ordinarily, those walks are quite boring, but yesterday something remarkable happened.