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xv Preface My thought was to start this book by making an exhaustive list of the pro- fessions, and hence, the professionals who as part of their job present. I began the list, but it seemed to go on and on. I then decided that instead of listing all the professionals who need to deliver dynamic presentations, I would list all professionals who do not need to deliver presentations. This list was much shorter. In fact, this list was zero! All professionals at one time or another are called upon to present. There is no escaping this fact. When presenting, the primary thing pre- senters do is communicate. They communicate with superiors, colleagues, and subordinates, and with patients, families, clients, board members, vot- ers, workers, customers, and others. They perform, they act, and they play a role. Their communication takes the form of engaging, enlightening, inform- ing, persuading, motivating, and, dare I say, sometimes even entertaining an audience. The goals, then, for all presenters are similar, if not the same. Further, the tools used to attain these goals are the same. Because com- munication is communication, dynamic communication ought to be the aim of all presenters! Presenters have still one more thing in common—all presenters teach. The presenter is cast in the role of the “teacher” and the audience is cast in the role of “students.” Here are just a few examples of where effective teach- ing and presenting skills are required of professionals. In medicine, the word doctor comes from the Latin docere, meaning to teach or instruct. Being a physician, therefore, means being a teacher. An attending physician conducts rounds, a doctor presents a diagnosis to a patient, department chairs run meetings, interns instruct med-students, nurses teach and monitor staff, academic faculty present papers at profes- sional conferences, and medical educators give in-house talks to col- leagues. We seem to be drawn to the drama surrounding the world of