Gangsta Lean: [gayng-stuh leen] Any one of a group of slouched or reclined postures assumed by an audience member to convey disdain, boredom, or general malcontent regarding the content of a presentation.
No, Jay-Z is not attending your third quarter presentation on realized gains in the Greater Topeka market area. That smug figure with the Gangsta Lean in the back right corner of the room is an audience member, and that reclined state is spreading like a domino train throughout the room. If you don’t do something soon, their attitude will be irreversible. If they begin gnashing their teeth on gum, beware. You’d better hope you have some scintillating slides ahead, or an impromptu magician act (try disappearing).
Just like old-time miners weren’t afraid of the dead canary so much as the noxious gas that killed it, so presenters don’t fear the Gangsta Lean so much as the attitude that tilts it. It is a gateway posture, and often leads to fidgeting, agitation, and open insurrection. Natural disasters are devastating, but any public speaker can testify that the idle human brain is the most destructive force on earth. Fail to occupy their minds with elegant slides and rapturous dialogue throughout a presentation and you’ll have the unique pleasure of watching Gangsta Leaners begin to foment rebellion. Too many presenters have been scotch-taped and feathered as a result; don’t let it happen to you.
The Takeaway: Recycle your bottles and cans, but not your presentations. You’re better off giving a shorter presentation than one filled with old information. The best presenters are aware of what their audience knows, and what it doesn’t know. The best presenters focus on the latter.
