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Firing By PowerPoint (Beyond Bullets)

Forget about your antics at the last Christmas party - Cliff points to a real career killer.
beyond bullets: Board Fires CEO Over PowerPoint

Ok, sure there were some other things that may have gone wrong but it certainly re-emphasizes the importance of being about to publicly speak, especially when you're in a role that demands you communicate.

But what role doesn't? The age of "I don't have to communicate with others" is certainly behind us in almost EVERY industry. I get really frustrated when I hear developers or other people of a technical nature say "I don't present" or "I don't like to talk about what I'm doing". If you can't make what you do sound interesting, something needs to change.

Now communication is a two (or more) way street and I'm sure many have stopped reading or listening to certain people because they don't like what they hear or what the person has to say. That's fine.

But to be in any kind of position of responsibility and not be able to communicate effectively strikes me as nuts and while it may not get you fired as this CEO was, it certainly draws into question the qualities that you may have been hired for in the first place.

(this may sound like a rant and I'm sure many can point to examples where I have mis-communicated and had to restate something, but the point is not mis-communication, rather it's simply BAD communication. Then again, maybe I'm frustrated because I've dealt with too many people where I've simply flipped the bozo bit! - because of their inability to communicate. They may have talent but the head in the sand attitude doesn't always fly. Anyways, now I'm off on a tangent so I'll stop here but point to another bozo bit article (here.)

I can appreciate that technology can be tricky for execs but if it's the industry you're in, it really shouldn't be. (I sat in on a online presentation recently where none of the slides worked - and it was a presentation on webinars, ironically - and only the audio was there. The company blamed the provider but then yesterday, I went to a similar presentation with the same providerWebex (but different company) and they had more people attend and it worked. )

That post should certainly be a wake-up call, Cliff - Thanks!

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