The Art of the Presentation with Adam Taub
What Makes a Good Presentation?
Adam Taub used to be an intellectual property lawyer. Now he coaches senior executives in the art of the presentation. There is a link between being a lawyer and a good presentation. Forensic questioning.





Adam calls himself a recovering lawyer. For him, it didn't do what he wanted to achieve. The law was about strategy positions, trying to do down the other side. Often about confusing people about what your motives and intentions were. For him, it was a poor way of resolving disputes. He wanted to be more like his clients.
Science Background
Adam studied Natural Sciences at University. And qualified as a lawyer. That's how he ended up doing patent law. It was the science and technology which Adam found fascinating. He wanted to get closer to what people were doing in incredibly exciting areas - such as software and hardware engineering.

A lot of Adam's clients are in the area of science and technology.

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Presenting Expertise
The people who Adam works with are generally operating in fields that are very complex. Some of the things coming out in science and technology are really complex ideas. The concern that people have when presenting is:
How do I tell this fairly complex story to an audience that may not be as technically proficient as I am?
If you try work out at the moment of presenting how to CLARIFY what you want to tell them and make sure that it is clear, it is inevitably going to go wrong. You need to separate what it is YOU are going to say, from way it is you're going to say it.

Do your thinking upfront.

Talk through the ideas and know exactly HOW to present this complex idea clearly. THEN, when you stand up, you will do all the things that are important to presenting, rather than focusing on how to clarify your thoughts.
Presentation Approach
Sit down with the client. And really hammer away at what exactly is it. Your core idea of what you want to convey. This can be a fascinating process. Imagine sitting with people at the cutting edge of science. They tell Adam what their ideas are. He constantly interrogates them. Bringing his advocacy skills to the fore.

What is it that you are really doing?
Why is it making a difference?
Why is it different to your competitors?

Put your idea on the spot. So you have done all the thinking in advance. Before you stand up and actually have to present.

This removes all that presentation stress. You know clearly what you want to say. It removes 90% of nerves.

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Clarity Trumps Persuasion
Flint McGlaughlin of Marketing Experiments in Jacksonville, Florida uses the phrase that CLARITY TRUMPS PERSUASION. Poor presenters are starting with persuasion before they have clarity down. We had Flint's colleague Daniel Burstein talking about How People Make Choices in Episode 105.

Also Whitney Cole, faces a similar dilemma helping health tech companies with their copywriting.
Do you speak 'complex'?
Do you speak in complicated long words, when you are not clear about what you want to say? There is almost an embarrassment about speaking simply. That if you use long words and then it will make you more intelligent than they may be.

Clarity is the most honest way of speaking.
At what point does Adam help his clients?
Most of Adam's clients are fairly experienced presenters.



He's not dealing with people at the beginning of their presentation journey. Nor best man's speeches.

His clients want to know WHY they are not coming across as persuasively, as powerfully as they desire? Why is my passion for the subject NOT coming through? - that is what Adam helps them with.

His clients know this because they are not selling as much as they want to be selling.

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