What can you learn by listening at Starbucks?

You can learn plenty by eavesdropping at Starbucks.

I am not conspicuously listening, yet I’ll ‘hear things’ as I read the paper (yes, I still do that…) or people watch.

  • I’ve listened in on girlfriend problems.
  • I’ve heard Mom complaining about her boisterous children.
  • I’ve watched a nervous, fresh college graduate try to convince an employer that she’s the one for the job.

The most revealing ‘listening experience’, however, just happened a few weeks ago in my local coffeehouse.

Near my table, two women huddled around a laptop and joyously built a presentation for an upcoming meeting. As they rattled away on the keyboard, they appeared giddy with the masterpiece that was coming to life on screen.

lady working on a powerpoint presentation
Will you remember anything from the next presentation?

These ladies sometimes struggled to find the right words on each slide; there were zero images or pictures. Some slides appeared to have 5 lines of text with about 50 characters per line. They browsed the thesaurus to look for power words without hesitation.  I said a little prayer for the audience that would have to sit through this long-form, extended dissertation. This unsuspecting audience would need an eye-check after this PowerPoint textual barrage.

I should have stopped these good-intentioned young ladies in their tracks by asking two vital questions:

1.       What is it that you are trying to say?

2.       What will everyone remember when it’s over?

When designing presentations, remember:

  • It’s not about you; it’s about the audience.
  • Your audience will remember very little from your presentation.
  • Make a few key points and make them resonate.

Excuse me, but I have to relocate tables at this Starbucks; I think I hear a father talking to his son about choosing a college. This is going to be good.

Like Starbucks?
Read about a few more unique encounters from this establishment:
How can a tap dancing girl at Starbucks give you an edge?
Your life will continue even if Starbucks is out of Cranberry muffins

Until next time,

Dan Naden

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