Sitting through a series of presentations aimed at money managers, I was struck by a troubling similarity that ran through each: the "So what?" question was often left unanswered, leaving a dangerous gap between the speaker and the audience.

While the presentations certainly looked professional, often taking advantage of every PowerPoint bell and whistle, they often came across as little more than a collection of unconnected and unexplained facts. This is a surefire communications disaster that leaves the audience scratching their ...