Presenting: no shortcuts allowed

I just delivered a presentation over the web to a few colleagues across the continent on the company’s cloud computing strategy and the experience reinforced what I’ve believed for an awfully long time.  A person will really struggle to sound credible and authentic if they:

1. Don’t believe in the pitch themselves 
2. Have not done a decent amount of research into the topic
3. Can’t summon up personal stories to illustrate their key points
4. Have not rehearsed the flow

As usual with my presentations, I deviated quite a bit from script but the theme stayed true.  I deviated because it felt right at the moment and I think that flexibility and nimbleness is important too.  It seemed to go well.