Why judging a presentation by its effect matters

In her delightful book, On Speaking Well, Peggy Noonan (who wrote speeches for former Presidents Bush and Reagan) tells a story about Coco Chanel that illustrates this important distinction. Chanel believed that the hallmark of a great dress was that it didn’t call too much attention to itself. Thus if a woman walked into a room wearing one of her dresses and everyone said, “What a fabulous dress!” she had failed. Success came when the woman walked into the room and people said, “You look fabulous!”

In the same way, a presenter fails if people say “What a great presentation!”

“Great deck.”

Possibly the cruellest compliment in business.

The presentation has a job: move an idea, a decision or a roomful of stubborn humans. If the transitions receive applause while nobody can explain what happens next, the container has eaten the contents. “Engaging” is not an outcome unless the brief was to keep people awake until coffee.

Product demos do this with technical fireworks that never help a buyer picture Tuesday morning. Strategy decks arrive beautifully typeset, then produce nine interpretations of the actual choice. Conference speakers create slides everyone photographs and arguments nobody can use. A sales pitch can make the presenter seem brilliant while leaving the buyer less able to explain the purchase internally. Craft becomes vanity when the presenter is the most memorable product on display.

Ugly work is not morally superior. Good design directs attention, reduces effort and makes the subject look clearer—just as a great dress serves the person wearing it. But measure the result after the projector goes dark. Can people restate the proposition? Did the decision change? Is the next action obvious without slide 47? Ask for evidence of effect, not adjectives about performance. If not, congratulations on the deck. Condolences to the idea.