Leave on a High Note

I have something to admit....I've written plays.

And no, it wasn't just youthful experimentation, I've written a lot of plays, 57 in fact. Part of writing plays is going to theaters and participating in play reading nights when actors sit on stage, or at the front of the room, and read through someone's new script. Sometimes they were great and sometimes....well, they weren't.

But, the thing that really bugged me is when someone would write this killer speech for a character that should have ended the scene, or act, or the whole show and then had kept on writing. They had created a "mic drop" moment and then had their character stay on the stage, and it ruined all the good work they had done.

If you're a business person creating a presentation, or a Sales professional up in front of a room of prospects, and you have told a brilliant story, or made a closing point and still have a couple slides left in your deck, let me give you some advice:

DON"T SHOW THE SLIDES.

If you've proven your point, you have finished, even if you might have more information, let it have the day off. Watch for the mic drop moments. In fact, search them out. Study the faces in the room because it might change from meeting to meeting. If you've hit the big note in your song there is no reason to sing more. It will just diminish the impact of your moment.