As times rapidly evolve, businesses are finding innovative ways to adapt to these changes. However, it doesn’t matter how much time passes; presenting one’s business to a live audience won’t change much. Various companies such as Purple Digital Storytelling are helping businesses deliver stellar presentations. But the focus usually remains on the technical aspects.
Missing Link is another presentation company that delves into the depths of what a company wants to achieve through its presentation. Professional public speaker, Richard Mulholland, founded the company in 1997 with the belief that public speaking is the “rock and roll” of the business world. And just like punk rock, the driver of the business is to adapt to changes via pro-activation. With that in mind, the company is now leaning more towards online rather than in-person training.
They work with staging and event companies, or anyone who wants to make an impact through their presentation. Going back to the school of thought of Aristotle and Cicero, Mulholland and the team believe in helping people become skilled at communication than just “show up and throw up.”
Don’t blame the PPTs
I had an opportunity to speak to Richard Mulholland. When I asked “why do you think most presentations suck?”, he said the reason why most presentations fail is not the fault of the platform presenters use. Instead, it is about people not having a structured and curated story to tell and to sell. Mullholland explains that “blaming PowerPoint for a bad presentation is like blaming a pan for a bad meal.”
Born and raised in Scotland, Mulholland moved to South Africa with his parents when he was nine and started his career as a staging technician. While touring with bands such as Iron Maiden, Bon Jovi, and Def Leppard as a lighting technician and operator, he absorbed the staging experiences to start Missing Link. At 22, he started the company not because the stage performances moved him, but by his zeal to perfect the presentations.
Skilled communication
For Missing Link, the most important aspect of a presentation is engagement with the audience. They want the audience to care and learn from what the presenter says. This is done through the program called StorySeller. The program is divided into four modules — narrate, create, accelerate, and animate — with each having its own pricing.
As of this writing, they currently gearing up for a three-day program called Boredom Slayers in the US on September 27-29, 2022. This training program is divided into three modules – one module per day. If you want to catch a glimpse of how the company operates and you’re located in the US, you can book your seats for the program for $1,555 for each ticket.
YouTube: Top reason why most presentations fail: What you’re doing wrong
Photo credits: The images are owned by Richard Mulholland and have been provided for press usage.
