16 Ways You Could Be Sabotaging Your Business Presentations

During a recent workshop that I conducted for a global marketing team on how to deliver presentations that people will actually pay attention to, I asked them to make a list of the things that annoy them or cause them to stop paying attention during everyday meetings and presentations.

Read them over, be warned, and take steps to ensure that you’re not unconsciously sabotaging yourself and losing your audience.

1. Speaking in a monotone voice

2. Reading off slides

3. No eye contact with the audience

4. Standing still

5. Using verbal fillers such as “ um, yeah, like, you know”

6. No passion

7. No interaction with the audience

8. Terrible slides and visuals (either too complex, too much info, poor design)

9. Shaky voice

10. Audio Visual doesn’t work

11. Used words, phrases, and language that was too complex for the listener so it was difficult to understand

12. Ill prepared

13. Went off on tangents

14. Too much use of laser pointer

15. Overuse of animation

16. Didn’t speak loud enough

Oftentimes, the presenter has no idea that they are doing any of the above because usually no one ever tells them. The good news is that all of these "pet peeves" can be overcome by learning and applying specific presentation skills.

Contact me to learn how I can help you and your team learn those skills.