I’m writing this while waiting to start work in a meeting room that’s cut in half by those concertina dividers so beloved of room managers. I can’t see what’s happening on the other side of them, but I can hear….. and frankly they’re going to have problems when I start work, because they’re going to hear me loud and clear! 
A phrase that’s struck me, as it drifts through the dividers is “The next this is….”. So far the presenter has used it three times in as many minutes. It grates on me - badly. Firstly, using any phrase so often, repeatedly, will annoy someone in the audience. Secondly, to have three “next things” in as many minutes means that there are too many “next things” for the audience to truly take them on board (people can only handle three new concepts in a 20 minute presentation!).
Thirdly, and most importantly… if the only way to introduce your next point is with an inane phrase like that, it implies (strongly!) that you’re just giving your audience a list, without form or structure. If you haven’t got a logical link between two things you want to talk about (and “the next thing” doesn’t count as a logical link!”) then your presentation isn’t designed properly. All you’re doing (probably) is talking to them in a relatively unstructured (and therefore ineffective) way.
Think about it – if you’re in the audience and there’s no link between two points, or three, or four… or even five (she’s cranking through them next door!) - how long would your concentration last?
Well, all I can tell you is that in the time it’s taken me to type this, things have changed next door. I can still hear the presenter, but now I can also hear people talking to each other instead of listening…. and that’s not a good sign!
I wonder if there’s a way I can give her my business card as she leaves………!
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