Twenty years ago, Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos were driven into exile and disgrace. Ferdinand died in exile in Hawaii in 1989, yet Imelda (now 76 years old) has returned to her homeland. She now lives in an opulent apartment in Manila... surrounded by Masters paintings, ranks of framed photographs, and buckets of artificial flowers. Estimates of the hidden Marcos fortune vary, with some experts estimating that they were able to abscond with as much as $10 billion...most of which came out of the Philippine economy by less-than-legal means. Amazingly, the Philippine government has found and recovered only bits of the ill-gotten wealth...and Imelda has masterfully avoided prosecution and jail-time.
One of Imelda's present-day interests is to explain her philosophy of life into a PowerPoint presentation. Although I haven't seen the presentation in person, Seth Mydans of the International Herald Tribune has. He calls it "incomprehensible."
In Imelda's eyes, the Seven Pillars to Moral Regeneration (the title of her presentation) are: ecological order, human order, economic order, social order, moral order, cosmic order, and peace and order. Other Imelda-isms: "Beauty is God made real." "The only things we keep are those we give away." "Common sense is common to all."
On the left, you will see one of the presentation's depictions. Imelda uses this slide to summarize her obtuse worldview. "You put it all together...an upright heart, an upside-down heart, and what you get is peace."
Speaking of presentations, in the March issue of The American Salesman, John Graham has 12 presentation pointers that he entitles, "Making a Better Presentation Than Anyone Else." His first tip is a good one...and I'll use it verbatim.
"Don't charge ahead...take charge. It's over in the first 60 seconds. How you are perceived and evaluated is determined in the opening seconds of your presentation. The first impression lasts. And that's how you want it.
In the first minute, the listeners...whether one or 1,000...must have a clear, powerful and indelible impression that what you are about to say is important because it benefits them. If the opening is weak, confused or dragging, you will have made an impression that is difficult to change. In other words, a presenter must lead from the start."
I very much agree with what Mr. Graham says. I would go on to say that first impressions are often based upon non-verbal images and clues. In fact, I believe that it is important not to say TOO much in the first few minutes of a presentation...this is when the audience, of 1 or 1,000...is making a judgment on whether the presenter is credible, and worthy of their attention and trust. If the speaker plunges ahead too aggressively in the first few minutes, and says too much before the audience has settled in...the words often fall upon deaf ears.
Let's conclude by some (unrelated) quotes of Imelda:
- "If you know how much you've got, you haven't got much."
- "Nouveau riche is better than no 'riche'".
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