Bring Sirach to Work
I've been reading "Sirach" as part of my daily Scripture reading. I've read it before, but this time around I'm really focusing better on all the great practical advice it gives us.
For example, have you ever been subjected to a presentation at work where the person doing the presenting didn't prepare well enough? Isn't it a bit annoying (or worse) to have to sit through someone who's bumbling through half-baked ideas?
Frankly, the majority of presentations I've heard in the work place fall into the category of "poorly prepared." I think "Power Point" has contributed to this. A lot of people seem to think that giving a presentation means slapping together a bunch of Power Point slides and reading whatever is already printed out on the slide. I suspect you've had to sit through too many of these. I know I have.
A good presentation requires you to think about your subject, determine your overall objective in giving the presentation, and effectively communicating your main idea. People who don't take the time and make the effort to prepare their presentation this way usually wind up throwing a bunch of vaguely connected ideas together. Nothing quite fits together. The poor people in the audience usually politely sits through it and - in all likelihood - thinks about what they're going to have for lunch or what they're planning to do for the weekend.
What a colossal waste of time.
And sure enough, the Bible weighs in on this and capture exactly what I just said - albeit in far fewer words - in the Book of Sirach (4-5):
Isn't that great advice? And that's just a few lines from this great book.
I'm going to post some more on the book of Sirach, specifically as it might apply to us Catholic men at work. I'm finding it's a lot more insightful than most of the business or personal development books I've read over the years. And the practical advice is spot on too, just like it was here.
For example, have you ever been subjected to a presentation at work where the person doing the presenting didn't prepare well enough? Isn't it a bit annoying (or worse) to have to sit through someone who's bumbling through half-baked ideas?
Frankly, the majority of presentations I've heard in the work place fall into the category of "poorly prepared." I think "Power Point" has contributed to this. A lot of people seem to think that giving a presentation means slapping together a bunch of Power Point slides and reading whatever is already printed out on the slide. I suspect you've had to sit through too many of these. I know I have.
A good presentation requires you to think about your subject, determine your overall objective in giving the presentation, and effectively communicating your main idea. People who don't take the time and make the effort to prepare their presentation this way usually wind up throwing a bunch of vaguely connected ideas together. Nothing quite fits together. The poor people in the audience usually politely sits through it and - in all likelihood - thinks about what they're going to have for lunch or what they're planning to do for the weekend.
What a colossal waste of time.
And sure enough, the Bible weighs in on this and capture exactly what I just said - albeit in far fewer words - in the Book of Sirach (4-5):
Prepare what to say, and thus you will be heard;
bind together your instruction, and make your answer.
The heart of a fool is like a cart wheel,
and his thoughts like a turning axle.
Isn't that great advice? And that's just a few lines from this great book.
I'm going to post some more on the book of Sirach, specifically as it might apply to us Catholic men at work. I'm finding it's a lot more insightful than most of the business or personal development books I've read over the years. And the practical advice is spot on too, just like it was here.
Comments