2 Minute Talk Tips

2-Minute Tip: Acknowledge Your Elephants   An elephant in the room is a topic no one wants to talk about, but probably everyone should. They include: Equipment failure Fire alarm Falling flowers Folks who walk out Medical emergency Loud neighbors A blown lamp Major news event Major corporate news And more   As a speaker, it's important to acknowledge them in an appropriate manner. If you don't acknowledge them, the awkwardness will distract your audience and make the rest of your talk less effective.   Program Note   Personal friend and friend of 2-Minute Talk Tips, Tim Garber, recently appeared on the 12 Minute Convos podcast with Engel Jones. It's fun interview. You can check it out here. You can find more of Tim's appearances here.     Post Tip Discussion: Necessary and Sufficient Conditions   Analyzing the goal you are trying to achieve with a talk, and the arguments you plan to leverage through the lens of necessary and sufficient conditions can be enlightening. Doing so makes i