Saturday, May 10, 2008

Rabbits Gettin' Busy

I'm probably overstepping boundaries and violating etiquette here, but I've posted below an excerpt from an email that an old buddy with no permission or warning at all. This was one of my closest friends for many years, and he knows me well. I was very interested to read how he feels about meetings and why.

"I checked out the blog. I read through many entries and I have to be honest, I never would have know then that someone would have drawn so much interest and insight from the subject of meetings. I guess I am too over exposed to meetings that have no purpose, and accomplish nothing, because the key players continually contradict themselves over and over and never want to make a decision, unless it is the worst one possible. Like I said I think I'm jaded. But still it was very interesting to be able to read your thoughts. It seems you have come along way since giving presentations on the mating rituals of rabbits, or is it true that the human legacy goal is still an instinctual desire for preservation of self. Either way it sounds like you've improved the technology of the puppets."

I don't think he's alone in hating meetings. I also don't think he's the only one who hates them for these reasons. Only wanting to make decisions when "it is the worst one possible". That's gold. Why else do people hate meetings?

To bring some clarity to the message above, some background is in order...

We had to do book reports for some highschool English class. Everyone spoke about their book. I read a few books, so for my presentation decided to present on a common theme throughout them. I recall that 2 of the books were Watership Down, and Less Than Zero. The common theme was of course: sex. So in front of this innocent class of adolescents, I put up slides of the reproductive organs of humans and rabbits, and compared them. The "technology of the puppets" comment refers to portion of the presentation in which I took 2 rabbit puppets and showed the class how they engage in intercourse. I then compared to human practice and variations with a Ken and Barbie. Got 100% on that presentation.

Novelty, unique format, and shock value made it worth remembering for this guy 10+ years after. What else makes a presentation memorable? I'm part of a team that's building a workshop on presentations, and would value any feedback here. Expect many posts on presentations.

1 comment:

Babs said...

As I sit working on a presentation for later this week, I should have much to say on the subject. But I can't. I am laughing too hard.

Thank you highschool friend that dislikes meetings. You have given us something to reference for some time.