Quick! Get me some content.

Pressed for time we throw a workshop presentation deck together. Copy some slides from others’ work. Add a few diagrams from the internet. And we have something that will keep the discussion going for 2 hours during tomorrow’s meeting.

Good enough. Yet the return always seems so small. If only there was more time to prepare…

The content production fallacy

For a fear of seeming or feeling unprepared we lean on producing content before meetings. Often at the risk of offering “filling” that steers away from the discussion that needs to happen.

What about an alternative? Put your valuable time into creating a vision on the discussion. Then picture the people who need to be in the room. Who holds the stories that you want to highlight? Ask the questions. Facilitate. Have them show and tell.

That gets the flow going. And it’s so much easier on everyone’s time.

Think more like a curator. Less like a presenter.