4 ms·

What a painful presentation to watch. Musk really needs to either work on his public speech or delegate them to someone comfortable. His product reveals could

What a painful presentation to watch. Musk really needs to either work on his public speech or delegate them to someone comfortable. His product reveals could be so much more impactful and inspiring did he not jump between points he's trying to make and stutter his way through the entire presentation.

zaroth 7y ago
Yeah, he’s given hundreds of these presentations but he “needs to work on it”? Take this as inspiration that’s its not just all smooth talking bullshit artists who get to become billionaires.
- umeshunni 7y ago
  > Take this as inspiration that’s its not just all smooth talking bullshit artists who get to become billionaires. That's how you get WeWork.
  - dmix 7y ago
    There's hundreds of millions of smooth talkers. Only a few WeWork type companies...
- gouggoug 7y ago
  > he’s given hundreds of these presentations but he “needs to work on it” Giving "hundreds of these presentations" is not a measure of one's ability to present well. So, yes. On delivering them. He's really hard to follow. Musk is a bad speaker. That fact doesn't diminish in any way what he has accomplished. > Take this as inspiration that’s its not just all smooth talking bullshit artists who get to become billionaires. Well, sure. I'd rather have more Musk than more Neumann; but that literally has nothing to do with the opinion I was expressing.
  - kjksf 7y ago
    His presentation was great. You're just judging him by the most superficial attribute: the cadence of his speech. An attribute that he cannot change, btw, because that's how he speaks. The content was great. He knows what's he's talking about, he's direct, he doesn't bullshit and what he talks about is inspiring. Starship presentation was 10x better than, say, the polished and perfectly delivered Apple keynote full of cliches like "this is the best Foo we've ever done".
sidcool 7y ago
You just described what makes him seem genuine and direct. He's not the best of speakers, but his cult following can be partly attributed to his quaint style of communication.
- gouggoug 7y ago
  Totally. And it's really awesome to see someone genuine and direct, and even though I'm not part of the cult following, I do really like Elon Musk's persona.
- CrazyStat 7y ago
  Many years ago I heard a best-selling nonfiction[1] author speak who had a similarly unpolished speaking style. A friend asked me afterwards if his speaking made me think less of him, and I had the same reaction as you: to the contrary, it seemed more genuine. [1] There have since been allegations that he mixed a nontrivial amount of fiction in with his nonfiction.
cmauniada 7y ago
I thought he did an excellent job, even with the hand-starship demo (:D) but regardless, it was pretty well done. If you are talking about his stutter, thats how he normally talks. You should look at his very first presentations way back in the day, and you will see how much he has improved in terms of public speaking.
aeternum 7y ago
As an engineer, you don't find his presentations interesting? The fact that he doesn't read from a transcript / teleprompter and instead describes things as he sees them, without the fine-toothed comb of a corporate marketing department is refreshing.
- gouggoug 7y ago
  I'm not talking about the contents of his presentations. What SpaceX/Tesla/Elon Musk accomplished is truly awe-inspiring. His delivery makes it really hard to follow, that is all.
- oska 7y ago
  The really cool thing is when he thinks out loud on stage. How many public speakers do that? Asked a technical question he will often think it out as he answers it (although it's usually something he's thought about before and he's mostly adapting his thinking to the question).
tomp 7y ago
Ever since I saw the first few Musk presentations, it fundamentally changed how I view public speaking... all these talks, Ted, high school presentationswe were required to give, political speeches... they might be polished (some more, some less), but the fundamental problem is, that they have nothing interesting to say. On the other hand, Elon could get on the stage naked, covered with shit, and just grunt or make baby noises while showing a few slides, and it would be better that all of Ted put together, because it’s interesting, not just some experienced fancy speaker pushing our psychological buttons to tell us something we could read on Wikipedia in 1/10th of the time. So basically, public speaking skills are important for people who have nothing remarkable to say.
djaychela 7y ago
I'd rather have someone who's passionate about what they're talking about, and who has real insight into it, instead of the usual corporate presentations you get, where there is zero interest whatsoever for me - I just feel like I'm being commoditised. With Musk's presentations I feel like he's just enthusiastic about what he's doing, and he's trying to convey that to you, rather than sell you something. It's a bit like singing competitions - it's as if everyone thinks that to be a public speaker you have to do it the same way as everyone who is in 'The voice' or whatever - being cast from the same mould. He's more like the Mark E Smith of presentations.
dfischer 7y ago
There’s constructive criticism and then there’s just saying something because you normalize negativity. Try focusing on the positive.
- gouggoug 7y ago
  That's fair. I could have phrased things more positively.

zaroth 7y ago

Yeah, he’s given hundreds of these presentations but he “needs to work on it”? Take this as inspiration that’s its not just all smooth talking bullshit artists who get to become billionaires.

umeshunni 7y ago
> Take this as inspiration that’s its not just all smooth talking bullshit artists who get to become billionaires. That's how you get WeWork.
- dmix 7y ago
  There's hundreds of millions of smooth talkers. Only a few WeWork type companies...
gouggoug 7y ago
> he’s given hundreds of these presentations but he “needs to work on it” Giving "hundreds of these presentations" is not a measure of one's ability to present well. So, yes. On delivering them. He's really hard to follow. Musk is a bad speaker. That fact doesn't diminish in any way what he has accomplished. > Take this as inspiration that’s its not just all smooth talking bullshit artists who get to become billionaires. Well, sure. I'd rather have more Musk than more Neumann; but that literally has nothing to do with the opinion I was expressing.
- kjksf 7y ago
  His presentation was great. You're just judging him by the most superficial attribute: the cadence of his speech. An attribute that he cannot change, btw, because that's how he speaks. The content was great. He knows what's he's talking about, he's direct, he doesn't bullshit and what he talks about is inspiring. Starship presentation was 10x better than, say, the polished and perfectly delivered Apple keynote full of cliches like "this is the best Foo we've ever done".

sidcool 7y ago

You just described what makes him seem genuine and direct. He's not the best of speakers, but his cult following can be partly attributed to his quaint style of communication.

gouggoug 7y ago
Totally. And it's really awesome to see someone genuine and direct, and even though I'm not part of the cult following, I do really like Elon Musk's persona.
CrazyStat 7y ago
Many years ago I heard a best-selling nonfiction[1] author speak who had a similarly unpolished speaking style. A friend asked me afterwards if his speaking made me think less of him, and I had the same reaction as you: to the contrary, it seemed more genuine. [1] There have since been allegations that he mixed a nontrivial amount of fiction in with his nonfiction.

cmauniada 7y ago

I thought he did an excellent job, even with the hand-starship demo (:D) but regardless, it was pretty well done. If you are talking about his stutter, thats how he normally talks. You should look at his very first presentations way back in the day, and you will see how much he has improved in terms of public speaking.

aeternum 7y ago

As an engineer, you don't find his presentations interesting? The fact that he doesn't read from a transcript / teleprompter and instead describes things as he sees them, without the fine-toothed comb of a corporate marketing department is refreshing.

gouggoug 7y ago
I'm not talking about the contents of his presentations. What SpaceX/Tesla/Elon Musk accomplished is truly awe-inspiring. His delivery makes it really hard to follow, that is all.
oska 7y ago
The really cool thing is when he thinks out loud on stage. How many public speakers do that? Asked a technical question he will often think it out as he answers it (although it's usually something he's thought about before and he's mostly adapting his thinking to the question).

tomp 7y ago

Ever since I saw the first few Musk presentations, it fundamentally changed how I view public speaking... all these talks, Ted, high school presentationswe were required to give, political speeches... they might be polished (some more, some less), but the fundamental problem is, that they have nothing interesting to say. On the other hand, Elon could get on the stage naked, covered with shit, and just grunt or make baby noises while showing a few slides, and it would be better that all of Ted put together, because it’s interesting, not just some experienced fancy speaker pushing our psychological buttons to tell us something we could read on Wikipedia in 1/10th of the time. So basically, public speaking skills are important for people who have nothing remarkable to say.

djaychela 7y ago

I'd rather have someone who's passionate about what they're talking about, and who has real insight into it, instead of the usual corporate presentations you get, where there is zero interest whatsoever for me - I just feel like I'm being commoditised. With Musk's presentations I feel like he's just enthusiastic about what he's doing, and he's trying to convey that to you, rather than sell you something. It's a bit like singing competitions - it's as if everyone thinks that to be a public speaker you have to do it the same way as everyone who is in 'The voice' or whatever - being cast from the same mould. He's more like the Mark E Smith of presentations.

dfischer 7y ago

There’s constructive criticism and then there’s just saying something because you normalize negativity. Try focusing on the positive.

gouggoug 7y ago
That's fair. I could have phrased things more positively.