Another instance when less is more ... and vice versa

Savoir-faire, coolness, sophistication: by any name, it is an attribute that announces itself. Ironically, the more we try to project it, the less often we achieve it.

Which brings us to public radio's evening half-hour business program, Marketplace, and its host, Kai Ryssdal. He tries too hard by half, from his intro, "Glad as always to have you with us," to his sign-off, "Okay, we're done."

Whereas Ryssdal seems to put cleverness before information, Marketplace founder, Jeremy Hobson (now co-host of Hear & Now), provides information often with a clever touch,

A similar trap can ensnare speakers who are trying too hard to be funny rather than injecting humor into their message only where it's appropriate.

The mother of all speaker traps

The worst predicament in which we can find ourselves at a podium is to lose our place and blank out.

Thus did Crooked River County Commissioner Ed Fitzgerald endure nearly a minute of dead air as he fumbled through his printed State of the County address.

“Wish I could blame it on the teleprompter,” said Fitzgerald.

Not that a teleprompter is foolproof, as director Michael Bay found out when his malfunctioned as he shilled for a Samsung product at the Consumer Electronics Show.

A company VP tried to throw him a rope, asking a question that might get him back on track. But Bay was already going down for the third time and, to mix metaphors again, simply bailed out, walking off the stage.

Solution? Have a printed copy in reserve but, whether print or electronic, by all means rehearse the presentation. The more high profile it is the more one should rehearse -- including at least once, if possible, at the venue for the presentation.