The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 15 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
Foard: Storytelling is the best way to trigger confirmation bias in presentations
“You are trying to achieve confirmation bias in any presentation, and the best way to do that is with a story.”
Foard: Bullet points belong in memos, not in presentations
“Stories are vastly more memorable. It's how we are tuned to package information. Bullet points are for memos, not for presentations. Bullet points are overrated as a way of containing information.”
Foard: Saying 'excited to be here' surrenders presentation status
“Oftentimes when people stand up in front of audiences, they'll say things like, we're so excited to be here, and they don't realize that that's actually a surrendering of status.”
Foard: CEOs mistakenly use company presentations to project power and bamboozle audiences
“That's the way that most CEOs misinterpret what they're standing up in front of a company to do. They think that they're there to project power and that they are there to sometimes bamboozle an audience.”
Foard: Announcing nervousness makes audiences perceive speakers as wounded animals
“I often caution people, don't say you're nervous. It doesn't help any It doesn't have the effect that you think it's going to have where it wins you over for them. They see you as a wounded animal, and that's a problem. Instead, let the nervous energy resonate…”
Foard: Environmental details in stories must always serve a specific purpose
“Any story really shouldn't be a long description of an environment, but if you are going to describe the environment, the points that you describe should have a reason for appearing.”
Foard: Sales is asking for a date; marketing is why they say yes
“The difference between sales and marketing is that sales is asking for a date, but marketing is why they say yes.”
Foard: Great stories use 'therefore' and 'but' rather than 'and then'
“You never go, this happened, then this happened. You go, this happened, therefore that happened, but then this happened, therefore that happened. A great story will have this rhythm to it. A wave of a moment will then lead to another moment in such a way that …”
Foard: Presenters Overestimate Appearing Professional Over Being Sincere
“Oftentimes, people overestimate how important it is to appear professional, when in fact, what they need to do is they need to be sincere, and they need to be their authentic self.”
Foard: Winging Presentations Demonstrates Slickness Rather Than Sincerity
“When they do that, they do themselves a disservice because they wing it, and in winging it, they're demonstrating their slickness, but not their sincerity.”
Foard: Framing yourself as the presentation's hero triggers audience resentment
“There are two outcomes. The first is that subconsciously people don't want you to succeed. They go, oh my God, I just don't believe them, and I don't want them to succeed. The problem with the credibility is that there's that great quote from George Orwell, no…”
Foard: Great presentation endings are stories with clear conclusions and emotional cues
“A great ending is usually a story, frankly, because a story has a conclusion and it's got that appropriate moment for surprise or laughter or applause.”
Foard: Audiences are more likely to approve pitches when presenters own the outcome
“People are going to be a lot more likely to do something if they know that you will accept responsibility for what happens.”
Foard: Stories are easily remembered and recited, unlike lists of data
“The great thing about stories is people are often able to recite them. There's no way I could give you 50 pieces of data and have you remember them later, but in a story, they can remember the basic arc of it, and it's memorable in that way.”
Foard: Showing hand gestures on video calls boosts speaker presence and dynamism
“Number one thing that I've learned about video is that there's a power in gestures. When you are on screen, it sometimes helps to pull your hands up higher in the image so they can see your hands and you're explaining. And this dynamism of the gestures creates…”