I was standing on the platform of Istanbul’s Levent Metro station. A burst of air rushed across face. I looked to the right and saw the southbound train entering the station. I smiled, knowing that this meant my workday was over and I would be going home.

The train stopped and the doors slid open. I began walking hurriedly towards the train, but I stopped suddenly. An idea had just occurred to me. I reached into my pocket and withdrew the voice recorder I would use to record the idea. The doors closed and the train pulled out of the station without me.

What was this idea that was so important I would pass up the opportunity to go home?

We had a client who was going to the twice-a-year IMF meetings in Washington, DC. They would be presenting to the banks’ FI (Financial Institutions) people, but their end goal was to get the slides into the hands of industry analysts at the headquarters back home.

Figuring out how to make that happen was our job. The idea that occured to me on that subway platform was how we would do it.

The point for your own presentations is this:

Sometimes the answer to the question “what do i want my audience to do?” is “make my argument to someone else.” That presentation will have a different design than one where the someone else is sitting right in front of you.