20th June 2017

Conference Presenting – Rule 11 – Avoid These Two Mistakes

It never ceases to amaze me how some speakers, possibly through nerves or little rehearsal time, seem to say or do inappropriate things on stage.

Let’s consider the young gentleman who spoke with a degree of passion about his firm and their services…but he made the most awful faux-pas about 10 minutes into his speech. No word of a lie, he actually said, “I literally have seen thousands of business owners in the last year” – I’m not going to bother with the poor use of the word ‘literally’ but I’m surprised somebody from the audience didn’t challenge him on his superhuman effort! It was the cheapest of cheap throw away lines. After his gaffe, I along with others reached for our smart phones – I guess in a way he was “doing a Ratner“.

Immediately after him was a woman, who spoke competently on marketing. Her slides were fine (although I’m no lover of PowerPoint) – but I guess the audience were confused. Alongside her on stage were the notes a previous presenter had left on a flip-chart in bold ink! This error is a big presenting “no-no” – it shows poor preparation on behalf of the speaker and to a degree, a lack of respect for your audience.