I had the honour of presenting at an ISC2 London Chapter meeting a little while ago, and my chosen subject was ‘Mobile: Changing the Face of Identity Management (IM)’. What I thought was going to be half an hour of me espousing my ideas (or ranting, depending on your point of view), turned into the most lively debate I have ever had in front of an audience.

Initially I wondered if my 10 slides was going to be enough (although I never actually read to the material), but I didn’t even make it past slide 7. By the time I was on slide 5 the questions started, then the dissenters chimed in, and by the time I reached slide 7 the presentation was forgotten. My 30 minute slot was over before I knew it, and it was clear a lot of people had a LOT more to say, which they did over beers afterwards.

The culmination of this discussion was when I heard the following; “I don’t agree with ANYTHING you are saying!”, which for a lot of people (especially ‘expert’ presenters) can be the cause of anger, considered a challenge, or can even cause outright panic. To me it should only ever be the cause of curiosity; WHY am I wrong? I certainly don’t think I am, and probably still won’t after I hear your explanation. I’m curious nonetheless.

But what I will do is hear what you have to say as objectively as I can, and respond as neutrally and I can. Usually without much success mind you, we are all very attached to our opinions, but I will at least try.

Presenters are supposed to be experts in their fields, otherwise why the Hell are they on stage, but that does not [necessarily] make them right, especially when the subject is focused on future-state concepts as opposed to subjects which are long established. I have no idea where Identity Management will be in 5 years, but I have a rough idea. Also, my ideas are also right for ME, but I am decidedly on one side of the privacy challenges that surround the field of identity and privacy like a miasma.

I guess in the end you must decide for yourself if you want to be a lecturer, where your subject is not really up for debate (like when I train groups in PCI for example) or a presenter, when your ideas must be open to not only comment, but potentially ridicule. I have to admit, it makes presenting is a lot more fun, and if I only have to produce 7 slides to get an audience engaged, then I have a lot less work to do! 🙂

The lessons I learned in that presentation will stand me in very good stead for the next one, and who knows, maybe I’ll even finish all 10 slides.

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