To avoid undermining one another’s confidence, we allowed no feedback at our presentations—the listeners were free to follow up on the leads or ignore them as they chose. I tried to focus on the quality of each idea, as opposed to the quality of the speaker. Often, the most valuable leads came from people whose stockpicking skills far exceeded their forensic skills, and I made it a point to pick the brains of the nonverbal contingent outside the meetings, with the egg timer turner off.
