9 Presentation Sins and How to Avoid Them

Sin #1: Wasting time — – start on time and finish on time.

Sin #2: Boring your audience — – give them key points that they can digest. Don’t read your speech.  Package the information with your voice, body language, and style that makes it interesting.

Sin #3: Lacking passion — – leave a message and let your audience know how much you believe in it. Passion is captivating, contagious, and more convincing than logic.

Sin #4: Confusing your audience — – keep your message clear. Eliminate unnecessary information and conflicting messages. Use words that they understand. Repeat your message three times.

Sin #5: Insulting your audience — – talk to them and with them — but not down to them.  Don’t make jokes about the audience. Don’t assume that you know what they think, know, or have done.

Sin #6: Unclear purpose/message — – ask yourself why you are giving a speech. Be able to state your message in one short clear phrase, then build your presentation around that.  If you can’t — don’t.

Sin #7:  Information overload. Give them what they need to know to do what you want them to do.  Don’t overload them with too much information.

Sin #8: Stuck in a rut of delivery — un-able to flex to the audience — – be prepared to alter your presentation to reach your audience in a way that is best for them.  It is not about you.  You must reach them with your message.

Sin #9: Using slides that are boring, irrelevant or confusing — – use only visual aids that reinforce your message.  PowerPoint will never rescue you from poor presentation skills.  You are your best messenger.

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