Truth is if you don't secretly harbour the desire to be Rich Mulholland, you more than likely wish you could present like him. The only other reaction you're likely to have is that he pisses you off. Seriously, who has the right to stand in front of hundreds of people and be quite that good? And have more than one successful business that enables him to go snowboarding? The other reason Mulholland upsets people is because he has an opinion and he's not afraid to voice it. Mostly though, it's because when he stands on a stage to speak, he's good. More than good.
I've only watched Mulholland talk once after swearing off motivational speakers because for the most part they are... well... motivational speakers. To be honest, watching a motivational speaker is a lot like eating too much cotton candy. Cloyingly sweet, no nutritional value and you get this head rush you know you're going to regret later. Which is possibly why Mulholland says he is not a motivational speaker. Quite the antithesis, Mulholland is a mash-up of Demitri Martin, Denis Leary, Dave Navarro without any eyeliner, and one of those okes from Freakonomics.
Mulholland runs the presentation company, Missing Link, and Thunk, the innovation lab that counsels businesses like Investec, Nokia, Media24 and Rand Merchant Bank. He does this with comrade in arms, fellow snowboarder and stand-up Don Packett.
ITWeb went head to head with the tattooed wonder boy to find out how anyone can go from being a PowerPoint loser to becoming a rock star.
ITWeb: Who are you, where have you come from and where are you going?
Mulholland: Hey, I'm Richard Mulholland, I come from Glasgow, Scotland, and I'm going... to bed (as soon as I finish this).
ITWeb: Why does the art of communication excite you?
The first rule of communication should be knowing when to stop.
Rich Mulholland, founder, Missing Link
Mulholland: The art of communication excites me about as much as the concept of breathing excites me - and it's about as important. The ability to communicate an idea is more important to me than the ability to generate ideas in the first place. Many great things have never happened due to bad communication. The flip side to that is far more dangerous though (think Hitler, the "great orator").
ITWeb: What do companies get wrong?
Mulholland: When it comes to presentations, companies do two things wrong. The first is that they make it about themselves (once you've established your credentials, no one gives a shit). The second is that they say far too much. The first rule of communication should be knowing when to stop.
ITWeb: What are the very basic fundamentals?
Mulholland: You simply need to define one specific objective that outlines what you want to communicate and what action you hope your audience will take from it - then stick to that militantly. A great gallery curator is measured not on the pictures that are on the gallery walls, but on the pictures that are left in the basement. The same applies to presenting. Curate brutally.
ITWeb: What are the rules for giving a brilliant presentation?
Mulholland: Be 100% yourself all the time, and never listen to the bullshit about changing your style for your audience. Content should be tailored, your style should always be the best version of yourself you can manage. People dig authenticity.
ITWeb: Can anyone be a great presenter?
Mulholland: I believe that anyone can be a good presenter. I'm not sure that everyone can be a great presenter any more than I believe that everyone can be a great artist or musician.
ITWeb: What's the issue with PowerPoint - how do people use and abuse it?
Mulholland: PowerPoint is basically perfect. Its only problem is that it suffers from feature creep. This is based on the fact that it was designed by programmers and not presenters. I always say though that blaming PowerPoint for a bad presentation is like blaming a pan for a kak meal.
ITWeb: What's the funniest presentation you've ever seen - what's the most memorable?
Mulholland: The funniest presentation I can remember seeing was by Ze Frank at TED Global '05, it was on air sick bags. The most memorable was Itay Talgam at Picnic.
ITWeb: Let's talk business. What should be keeping business people awake at night right now?
Mulholland: The imminent death of their current business model.
ITWeb: Which business models are smart?
Mulholland: There are many (that's the fun part). My personal favourite is that of TOMs Shoes. Blake Mycoskie is amazing (and a kick-ass speaker).
ITWeb: Which business models are crazy?
Mulholland: The banks, the porn industry, the Yellow Pages.
ITWeb: If you had to create a new business from scratch, not doing what you do now, what would you create and why?
Mulholland: I have a bunch... I'm playing with the idea of selling single socks online (you can only buy odd numbers), you pay for two though. I'll give the other one to charity.
ITWeb: Which businesses do you admire?
Mulholland: Any business that scales beautifully.
ITWeb: What are the biggest game changers for business and the way they relate to customers?
Mulholland: If you are in the cellphone, or even computer design business, you need to realise that customer centricity is archaic! Designing around the perceived needs of a specific customer is simply impossible. They need to become developer centric - design with the developer in mind - they'll worry about the customer.
ITWeb: How is social media changing the rules?
Mulholland: It's giving far too much power to people who really shouldn't have it. For the most part it should be ignored. It is fun, but act on the opinions touted at your peril - these aren't necessarily the smartest people, simply the loudest. Also, if you aggregate the opinions of any large group, you will always end up with average.
ITWeb: What's around the corner?
Mulholland: A whole heap of millionaires created out of industries that don't exist today.
ITWeb: What is the biggest business lesson you've learned?
Mulholland: To always be learning.
ITWeb: What should technology brands know right now?
Mulholland: Technology is a pretty broad group. But here goes... marketing is over-rated, take your smartest marketers and move them into product development today. Good products trump marketing every time. Take Apple and Cell C - I can't stand either brand, but I'll use their products because they're good. Oh, and if you're still designing and selling software (MS Office, etc), I strongly suggest you switch to a subscription model, it will help you understand that you are a service - not a product.
ITWeb: Anything else you want to say?
Mulholland: Question everything.
Share