How to be a Presentation God: Build, Design, and Deliver Presentations that Dominate!

2.1. THE CASE FOR EXCELLENCE

Steve Jobs, Dick Hardt, and Randy Pausch didn't give their first presentations on the worldwide stage. Neither did I, and neither did you. Our passion—that sense of burning within, the pursuit of excellence that drives us to put on a smile and give our best to a room of disaffected teenagers at "Bring a Parent to Work Day," for instance—is the requisite ingredient for the future stage. Every presentation matters because while we have seven seconds to create an impression in someone's mind, we spend our entire lives revising, amending, and building on that first impression. Just because you met your spouse rescuing him or her from a burning building doesn't mean you ride out the marriage in permanent adoration. In the same vein, a good or bad beginning doesn't determine the outcome of a presentation, either.

It's simply a chance to build on the momentum we create, which is why pursuing excellence early and often begets more excellence.

Though my parents never told me to strive for excellence, they taught me many other values. In fact, I can still hear my mother's voice saying, "Scott, liars never prosper," "Do unto others . . ." or, "Scott Brent Schwertly, don't run in the house!" However, there was never anything about excellence—because it was implied. The highest virtues, it seems, are often implicit in our interactions. We expect goodness but rarely request it in written contracts. We want respect but command it with actions rather than demand it ...