Designers often have their work presented by other peers, project mates, and executives in high-touch meetings. The work is not conveyed with proper storytelling, foundation, and reasoning. Those who present the work lack the confidence in the designer's ability to present. Designer often forgo opportunities and defer due to low confidence, laziness, or lack of time.
To ensure detail and ownership, speak for your work. Taking action will lead to benefits of presenting.
Growth
Action
Believe in yourself. Placing yourself in uncomfortable situations will help you grow.
Benefits
Practice makes perfect, you get better at speaking with clarity, comfort, and confidence
The work gets refined, clear, and other ideas manifest
Ownership
Action
Explicitly establish to your team that you are the voice and bearer of your work and will present in every opportunity or circumstance.
Benefits
You provide a face, voice, and name to the work for your audience
You become the point person for questions, feedback, and actions
You receive credit
Authenticity
Action
For presentations, you can tell your personal story and process to convey how you derived at the work, making it personable, convincing, and relatable.
Benefits
Audience receives the motivations, revelations, and emotions that no one else can articulate or speak of
Audience receives first-person perspective from the original source, giving credibility and legitimacy to the work
Collaboration
Action
Answer questions, ideate, teach out thoughts, and follow through with actions.
Benefits
Showcase deep knowledge and understanding of the subject
Opportunity to connect with people
Opportunity to evolve the ideas in the work and find resolution
Exposure
Action
Just present! Let it be known you are the one that did the work.
Benefits
Great first impression and introduction to new people
Showcase your ability to lead
Showcase your presentation and craft skills and subject matter expertise
Summary
Instill confidence and give credit by requiring designers to present their work and ideas
Take ownership, lead, and be assertive on presenting your work when opportunities arise
To be comfortable and confident, you must experience unease and tension
Present your work with passion, logic, and personality
Comments