Design Sanity Tip: Always be ready for an impromptu presentation

It’s bound to happen — someone rushes over to my desk, and needs me to turn what would normally be a totally casual conversation, into a professional presentation. Now, I consider myself someone who assesses a situation, then plans accordingly, but in these scenarios you have to be well rehearsed in the art of bullshit. I have to talk about ideas I may not have created, and be able to defend work, even if I don’t think I can. The fact is, that in this situation, there’s no better substitute for just some random pre-planning to help you still look like you had been rehearsing, and have been waiting for this moment.

The first part of being ready is a proper toolkit. In my cube, at any given moment, you’ll find a tie (a completely awful one, I should really invest in simple black one) and a button down shirt, and little USB presentation remote. I also have fake mustaches, a wig, and makeup, but I don’t expect you to run out to iParty just because I’m weird. And while all of that may not seem like all it takes, it hasn’t failed me yet.

Truthfully, I’ve called on my toolkit only about three times in the past year, but those times of looking good are invaluable when you consider the fact that it could be three times of looking like you don’t know what you’re doing. Presentation can be as much about how you look as it is what you say. So I ran into the bathroom, washed my face and did a little hair grooming, ran into the stairwell and changed my shirt (to Sarah and Jason: you’re welcome for the show). Went into that conference room and did my thing. There’s no substitute for being able to speak in front of others, of course, but you’ll always be more comfortable being prepared.