Dave Pollard at “How to Save the World” has an interesting post on the inadequacies (and idiosyncracies) of communication, focusing mostly on formal presentations and informal conversation. Pollard uses (admittedly anecdotal) evidence to point out the woeful inadequacy of most presentations. As he says, “almost none” of what a presenter says “gets ‘correctly understood, internalized, or learned by their audience.” Moreover, it’s not just business presentations: it’s all presentations, all conversations, all interactions.
Anyway, the post is chock-full of curious observations that have relevance to pretty much anybody’s life. Dig in. And please, take notes.
(via How To Save The Earth: “That’s Not What I Meant” by Dave Pollard [April 28, 2004])