The phrase “in a mirror, darkly” comes from the Bible. It describes a first-century mirror, not made of glass but of polished metal. What that showed was a poor, dark reflection, not a true one. Blurred. Distorted. Partial. As a presenter at a conference you will have rehearsed your script, loaded the slides, stood in front of the mirror and checked your appearance before confidently walking onto the stage reflecting that everything was in place. What if the mirror doesn’t show what actually matters? What if the reflection is like looking in a mirror, darkly?
When we write the message, we add information. When we build the slide deck, we add more. When we present, we focus on delivering all that information. We are left with the illusion of communication, not the reality.
The audience didn’t see what you saw looking in a mirror, darkly.
The audience saw a wall of bullet points, not accessible information.
They heard words, not a message.
You saw a narrative arc. They saw a lecture.
You heard fluency. They heard a monologue.
You saw a room full of faces. They saw a screen.
The worst part is that you probably don’t know. The questioner who congratulated you, “thank you for your excellent presentation, I very much enjoyed it,” encouraged you. The feedback notes of “met my expectations” fulfilled your needs. The reflection of your presentation experience is like using an old, polished metal mirror, like looking in a mirror, darkly.
We spend all our preparation time perfecting what we can see: slides, performance, and presence. It reflects our effort but not the result. Presentations fail not because of lack of effort, planning or quantity of information. They fail because we don’t see a true reflection of their impact. The mirror doesn’t show cognitive overload. It doesn’t show attention decay. It doesn’t show impenetrable structure. It doesn’t show how format disables memory, obscures meaning and disengages the audience. What it does show is blurred, confused and hidden behind conformity, history and the implications of real insight. It’s like looking in a mirror, darkly.
This is not about blame. It’s about clarity of reflection. It’s not about changing everything, but about gaining insight into what happens when we look differently. The p³ approach is not a technique; it’s a mirror. It begins with your message. It’s about building media that supports that message, not distracting or obscuring. It’s about delivering with the audience as the purpose, so they can follow, understand and process.