In recent weeks I’ve written about the importance of breaking patterns in your presentation (yuvarlanıp gidiyoruz, clear the cache, etc).

I know, I’m a strange person to be giving that advice. Routine and patterns make up a huge part of my day-to-day life. I wake up at the same time. I go to the park at the same time. I shower at the same time. I go to the cafe at the same time. I write this email at the same time. Once, my father-in-law told me that my movements were so regular and so predictable he could set his watch according to them.

But my mere existence breaks the pattern for lots of people. When I walk down the street, people know I’m a foreigner (for 20 years, I’ve tried unsuccessfully to understand how Turks do that — how do they know I’m a foreigner? Even I barely know I’m a foreigner!). Then when I open my mouth and speak, it leaves no doubt that I’m not from around here.

I’ve learned to use my foreigner-ness to my advantage in many ways. As some of you have heard me say, “When you are a foreigner, you are more interesting than you really are.”

The point I’m trying to make here is that in your presentations, do something to break the pattern. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. Break the pattern. It’s almost irrelevant how you do it. Make some cross-talk with the organizer, ask a question, start your speech with silence, whatever. It doesn’t really matter. Whatever everyone else is doing, do something different.

Of course, after that you’re going to need to have something to say. If you don’t have something to say, you’re just a dancing monkey up there, and no one likes that.