The statement arises from a meeting that easily could have been an email. When I hear this there are generally two thoughts that go through my head.
- This meeting was a presentation (there is a difference), in which case, it wouldn’t work as an email because than people wouldn’t benefit from hearing each other’s thoughts and questions (which is where the magic in a presentation occurs).
- If it was meant to be an email, but you didn’t participate in the email, will changing it to an email make you more interested in the topic and willing to contribute to the end state?
The answer to #1 is easy – make it clear what the focus for the presentation is – “It’s not a meeting, it’s a presentation.”
The answer to #2 is even easier – you probably don’t need to be there. At every meeting you attend, there will be some people who get a lot out of it and others who don’t. If you aren’t getting anything from the meeting, than making it an email isn’t going to suddenly ratchet up your engagement is it?
Remote, the gift that keeps on recording.
