The big presentation
What to wear to present to the whole team, a hairstyle you won't touch, and the one pause that steadies you before your first sentence.
- work
- autopilot
- hermes
Plant both feet, pause for one slow second, find one friendly face, then begin. That pause belongs to you.
A presentation is a room of people who want to leave with something useful. Know your first sentence by heart and the rest will follow it.
All the moment cards are at /moments.
The moment
Standing up in a meeting room or on a big call.
- What they want
- To know what they will get from you in the first minute. Not a perfect speech.
- What you control
- Your first sentence, your feet, and how slowly you start.
The look
Sharp, solid and easy to move in.
- Modern option
- A tailored blazer in cobalt or black over a plain white top, with straight trousers and closed shoes. One solid colour that is not the colour of the wall behind you.
- Modest option
- A structured kurta with churidar or straight pants in one solid colour, and a light dupatta pinned at the shoulder.
- Hair
- A sleek low ponytail or bun, so your hands never go up to fix it.
- One detail
- Small studs or a watch. Nothing that jingles when you gesture.
The confidence move
Feet, pause, one friendly face.
- Plant both feet
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your weight even. Standing still reads as calm.
- The pause
- Count one slow second before you speak. It feels long to you and normal to the room.
- One friendly face
- Pick one person who is listening, and begin by speaking to them.
What to say first
The only sentence you need by heart.
- The opener
- Say what they will get, in one sentence.
- Then
- Move to your first slide. The rest is easier once the first line is out.
In the next ten minutes, I'll show you ... and what we do next.
If it goes sideways
A blank, a shaky voice, a hard question.
- A blank
- Breathe out slowly, longer than you breathe in. The next line comes.
- A shaky voice
- Slow down by half and finish each sentence before you start the next.
- A hard question
- Honest and calm.
Let me take a breath and come back to that point.
Good question. Let me check and get back to you by tomorrow.
Try it today
Thirty seconds, once.
- Watch yourself
- Record your first thirty seconds on your phone and watch it once.
- The dare
- Tomorrow, start with one full second of silence. I dare you to let it be long.