I love looking back and remembering what life was like just 10 short years ago, versus what it is today. In reality, it doesn’t seem like much has changed, but in fact we couldn’t be further from the truth. Take for instance, the skill of presenting.

Back in 2007, the following things are different from today:

• The clients – some were older than me, so I had to make sure my presentations were relevant to them. How they wanted to be presented to, dictated the way I presented. These days, it seems my clients are my vintage, or younger, so naturally the way we present will be different because of the audience.
• The product I was presenting was still growing, although we didn’t realise it, but brands were still being developed.
• I only worked in one market – that market was my own back yard. These days, the world is my market, so I have to flex how I present due to language, cultures and understanding.
• Tools: boy oh boy, didn’t we think we were flash creating a moving PPT to do our presentations with wording that entered and clipart? With all the new and wonderful presentation tools that are available to us now, our presentations have never been so wonderful! Have a look at my blog where I talk about some great presentation tools and be surprised at what creative things you can do with yours for the young audience!
• It is acceptable to do a virtual presentation these days, were 10 years ago it would be considered the height of rudeness. The world has got a whole lot smaller now with the invention of the internet, but it’s how we use it that puts us ahead of our competition.
• Handouts are also very different now vs 10 years ago. I would always make sure that I had a brochure on hand so the people I was presenting to could follow along with the paper version, now, each presentation is tailored to the client, and their own notes far outweigh any printed material I can bring along for them. My presentations now take my clients on a journey.

If we think about it carefully, a lot of things have really developed on the way we present from earlier times. It’s not necessarily a bad thing but it sure is challenging to keep up with technology, be flexible with our audience, and be more creative for impactful presentation.