maybe she’s born with it. spoiler alert: she was.
Since the day I spoke my first word, which, by the way, was “money”, there has never been a doubt that I would find success in public relations and all that the practice entails. That’s not me fluffing my own ego — ask me to solve a math problem. When I’m tasked with elaborating on how I am so certain, I rely on the ‘ol trusty rusty “Christmas PowerPoint” story.
It’s no secret that I come from a very smart, clever and impressive family, so to really stand out, I often create proprietary and memorable trademarks (that aren’t actually trademarked…yet) as one with PR in their blood does. My dad is a brilliant marketing executive and entrepreneur; my mom is a tenured and celebrated oncology nurse; my brother is a decorated attorney and my sister-in-law is a trusted and respected social worker. That said, it is imperative that I have something unique to add to the mix.
With that, a couple of decades ago, believe it or not, I came up with the “Christmas Wish PowerPoint” to share the gifts that I’d like to see under the tree each December. After watching this pay off a few times, (meaning, that handbag I “needed” to be taken seriously at my first internship in college, was wrapped under the tree based on slide three, circa Christmas Wish Powerpoint, year 2005) I use that deck as a guide to “pitch” my family hoping it will convince them that these items have the ability to better my life throughout the upcoming year. You never know what a new watch or 500 count thread bedsheets can do for a girl.
To further support the “she was born with PR in her blood” theory, I had my cellphone taken away at some point in high school (for no reason, of course) and to get it back, I wrote and presented a “pitch” to my parents. It started with me “singing” the ringtone of said cell phone to really catch their attention at the get-go. I probably then went on to claim it was for safety reasons. Which it was, of course.
**Reminder, from day one, there was never any hope I’d be a doctor or like an astronaut.**
Over the years, there have been several memorable Christmas pitch decks. I am asked often to share these pieces of rare art, but I’ve not. Until now. Here it is. The 2023 Christmas Power Point.
Enjoy, feel free to gift me anything you see in the PPT and if you would like help in creating your own, The Studio is here for you. Media training and all. Never underestimate the power of a POWER point.