Skip to content
‹ Back to IndustriesIndustrial IoT

What Can Comedians Teach Business Leaders About Presentations?

Comedians like Jerry Seinfeld and Robin Williams can teach business leaders valuable lessons about presentations. Jerry Seinfeld represents a prepared, rehearsed approach, while Robin Williams exemplifies improvisation and adaptability. Both styles can be effective in engaging audiences and delivering messages.

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Industrial IoT teams put it to work with AI Visibility (GEO).

By Howard Holton · · Carlos Vargas PodcastComediansHoward Holton PodcastPaul Lewis Podcast
Share
What Can Comedians Teach Business Leaders About Presentations?

Key takeaways

01

Comedians like Jerry Seinfeld and Robin Williams illustrate the effectiveness of different presentation styles.

02

Both rehearsal and improvisation can successfully engage and address the same audience.

03

Strategies in presentations should adapt to the type of content and audience.

Free workspace

Turn your Industrial IoT expertise into content.

Record interviews, organize footage, and write with AI on a free trial of the MarketScale platform for qualifying companies. No demo required, no credit card.

Try it Free

We all need a good laugh from time to time, especially when life feels heavy or a social interaction gets tense. The hosts of The Suite Spot recently observed that two of their favorite comedians can provide more than just a couple laughs. They can actually give quite a bit of insight into how to present well. A skill which is imperative in the business world.

Co-host Paul Lewis realized everyone on his team has a unique presentation style when working with clients, “We have a very distinct, different approach to presentations. A very distinct difference in how we have conversations with clients and I think that’s best described by talking about two different comedians,” Lewis said. The comedians in question? Jerry Seinfeld who tends to prepare his content in advance, practice it repeatedly and really hone it, and the late Robin Williams who was more likely to customize his content each time he performed it, not afraid to improvise or make changes. “And it works so well, that two people that do those things, so incredibly opposite, can in fact address the same audience can in fact, hold the same audience, and in fact, deliver the same message,” Howard Holton said.

Lewis noted that his team’s strategies change depending on the type of content they’re discussing, “Some of that content has been sort of strategy focused, some of that content is based on how you operate IT, some of that content is based on, you know, the portfolio to which we sell. But it’s all reasonably technical, but the audience tends to be executive,” Lewis noted. Overall though, Lewis feels he has a specific style he tends to stay true to, “My approach in presentations tends to be, I don’t want to say rehearsed, but I do want to say practiced, right?,” Lewis explained.

Make Sure to Subscribe to The Suite Spot to Stay Up to Date!https://marketscale.com/industries/podcast-network/the-suite-spot/

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Industrial IoT starts with a company putting its controls engineers, plant-floor specialists, and integration partners on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

Plant and controls buyers research deep before contact, and your engineers get to shape that research.

Book DemoSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.

About the author

HH
Howard Holton
B2B Weekly

The week in Industrial IoT, and sixteen other industries, every Monday.

Ten stories, one-line takes, five minutes. Free.

Industrial IoT: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Industrial IoT buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. Explore how your experts, customers, and partners can become useful content for buyers and AI search.

Free Trial

You just read one Industrial IoT expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your controls engineers, plant-floor specialists, and integration partners into the articles, video, and social content Industrial IoT buyers are searching for. Start a free trial and see it with your own people. For qualifying companies, no credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What your free trial includes

Hands-on access to the MarketScale platform
Media requests to your crowd, remote recording, AI writing tools
No demo required. No credit card.
For qualifying companies. Company confirmation required.

More Industrial IoT Insights

Jabil's rule for factory AI: simplify and standardize the process first

Jabil's rule for factory AI: simplify and standardize the process first

Jabil's John Kraus says factory automation fails unless a process is simplified, optimized and standardized first, which makes skilled engineers a key limit on AI adoption. The same consistency problem shows up in plant data. Jabil connects all of its 30-plus US sites with local schools to build that talent.

  • 01A machine can't absorb process variation the way a veteran operator does, so designing consistency into a process is the first real step of any factory AI project.
  • 02With roughly 40% of core advanced-manufacturing skills changing within five years, adaptability and data literacy belong in engineering job specs next to controls and mechanical knowledge.
  • 03About 85% of growing jobs require a credential, and employer-preferred credentials are ones a manufacturer can rewrite itself, which makes certification design a real lever in school partnerships.

Nov 12, 2026

How Siemens, Emerson, IDEC and Weidmuller modernize SCADA

How Siemens, Emerson, IDEC and Weidmuller modernize SCADA

Product leads at Siemens, Emerson, IDEC and Weidmuller outline SCADA retrofit paths that avoid ripping out working controllers—using bridges in the HMI, SCADA software, an edge OS or a data fabric to translate legacy protocols and manage fast data locally. They also flag connector licensing and naming/retention standards as long-term cost drivers. Fort Smith, Arkansas, consolidated five Wonderware SCADA systems into one Ignition platform, paying two-thirds of the upgrade price.

  • 01The edge gateway decides most of what a legacy SCADA retrofit can do: which protocols it translates, how much high-rate data it keeps locally, and what it publishes upward.
  • 02Fort Smith paid two-thirds of the upgrade price to replace five SCADA systems with one, and got a utility where red means the same thing at every plant.
  • 03A sharper question for any SCADA bid: does the ERP and MES link run on open, documented APIs, or on connectors that carry their own license fees?

Nov 12, 2026

Lear's Orion seat plant aims to cut conversion costs 10% to 15%

Lear's Orion seat plant aims to cut conversion costs 10% to 15%

An internal team that came out of Lear's purchase of ASI Automation developed the two automated storage systems at Lear's seat plant in Orion, Michigan. The plant will make seats for three General Motors models: the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra.

  • 01An internal Lear team built Orion's two storage systems, and Lear expects automation at the plant to cut conversion costs 10% to 15%.
  • 02A blueprint plant still has to be validated at each new site: cycle time, ambient light, dust, workstation layout and maintenance can change how well a copied design performs.

Nov 11, 2026

Explore More Industrial IoT Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Industrial IoT.

Browse Industrial IoT Hub

About the Experts

HH
Howard Holton
PL
Paul Lewis

Co-host

Paul Lewis is a co-host on The Suite Spot podcast where he discusses different approaches to presentations. He emphasizes the individuality in presentation styles and how they can effectively communicate messages to executive audiences.

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Industrial IoT and beyond.

Book a Demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512