Matt the AI startup mentor

The other day an AI startup in Istanbul contacted me for some advice.

Never in a million years would I have imagined myself a startup mentor. So I’m not quite sure why they reached out to me, but I helped them think through some stuff, and I asked them some questions like, “How are you going to update your code base at your on-prem installations?” and “How are you hedging against the future rise in the price of tokens?”

You may be asking what this has to do with your presentations, and it is this:

You may not think of yourself as an expert, but your audience saw fit to invite you to speak, so give them what they want and tell them what you think.

In my years of presentation training, one of the most common problems I see is people shrinking, thinking that hiding their inner voice is somehow playing it safe and the world will like them better for it.

That’s not true at all. If they asked you to speak, it’s because they want to hear what you have to say. Whether you were asked to speak by your boss, or your coworkers, or the CEO, or the board, whatever, they did it because they want to know what you think.

Don’t hold back from them. Do not hide. You are doing no one any favors.

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