I spent an interesting(and frustrating) two days last week- the first watching a number of legislative hearings, and the second watching a number of presentations/pitches before venture capitalists and private equity groups.

The similarity was striking, and there are

1. You are presenting for your audience, not yourself — It doesn’t matter if you are presenting on the floor of the House of Representatives or on the floor of a private equity investors boardroom — your presentation is not about you, it is about the folks you are presenting to.

2. Focus – What are you trying to accomplish? – Rallying support behind a cause? Garnering votes for a bill? Gaining the interest/investment of equity groups?  Moving poll numbers? Placating a board?  Far too many presentations have no focus,  fail to answer this central question and fail to get the desired response.  Wonder why?

3. Reading verbatim IS NOT fundamental - First of all, the organization Reading is Fundamental does truly wonderful work.  There is one situation where reading is not fundamental, and then is when you are presenting.

I watched an entire Congressional hearing where EVERY opening statement was read verbatim, with eyes failing to meet anything but the copy of the testimony — three things were obvious:  1) the Congressional member reading was rarely, if ever, the author of what was being read; 2) the Congressional member displayed very little, if any, ownership of the words written; and 3) the chances of connecting with the audience was non-existent (Watching reporters and interested parties typing away on iPhones and Blackberry’s is not a positive sign)

To Legislators:  It is understandable that you have staff prepare comments prior to committee meetings and floor votes – your time is very limited and the pressures on you are great.  However, if you do not have the time to take the prepared comments, introduce your own thoughts, and re-write sections in your own words and language, you are better off not speaking at all.

To Entrepreneurs:  It is understandable that you are nervous, have a lot of information to convey, and have written it down in order to ensure that you are able to introduce every concept you feel is necessary.  Reading directly off of a script, or even worse, off of a PPT (the subject of another post) will not allow potential investors to see how passionate and confident you are about your company, your fund or your idea.

Invest the time in practice and preparation. If the President can re-write comments, practice and invest countless hours in preparation for an address, so can everyone else.

The President does it because he is well aware of the fallout should he fail to prepare.  The question is, what is the fallout should you fail to prepare?

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