7. Presentation Advice from Mark Twain: Brevity Takes Time
The celebrated American author Mark Twain was also a most prolific writer. Amazon lists more than 12,000 books consisting of various editions of Mr. Twain’s own works and works about him. So great was his output that his quotes alone—some actual, some apocryphal—have even more references on the Internet than do his books.
One of his most famous quotes, which is quite applicable to presentations, came from an exchange Mr. Twain had with his publisher. The publisher sent the author a telegram reading:
NEED 2-PAGE SHORT STORY [IN] TWO DAYS.
The writer sent back a telegram reading:
NO CAN DO 2 PAGES TWO DAYS. CAN DO 30 PAGES 2 DAYS. NEED 30 DAYS TO DO 2 PAGES.F7.1
Mr. Twain’s pithy nineteenth-century ...
Get Presentation Skills That Will Take You to the Top (Collection) now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
