Read them – Study them – Don’t do them!
DON’T If you’re a speaker there are certain things you should do, and should not do. Here are 11 Definite Don’ts!
- Don’t “Wing it.”
- Your non-effort will show.
- You’ll embarrass yourself and waste the time of your audience. They came to learn something from your talk.
- It is your responsibility they leave the room knowing more about your subject than they did when they entered.
- Prepare and practice your presentation as if it were very important – because it is!
- Don’t think the speech is about You. It’s not.
- It is, and always should be, about the Audience!
- Being Audience Centered is one of the
Laws of Presentation.
- Being Audience Centered is one of the
- Focusing on the Audience, and not you, will raise the quality of your presentation and lower your anxiety.
- It is, and always should be, about the Audience!
- Don’t give the same speech to all audiences.
- Do your homework and get some intel on whom you’ll be speaking with.
- All audiences are not the same. Their makeup and knowledge of your subject will vary. Adjust your speech accordingly.
- Don’t turn your back to the audience and read text from your slides.
- Slides are a tool to help the audience GET IT! They especially appeal to the 65% of the population that are visual learners.
- You shouldn’t be using much, if any, text.
- Use high quality, universally understood images, and you supply the text with your voice.
- Use the ‘B Blank’ button to blank the screen and take the attention of the audience from the screen to you, the presenter – where their attention should be directed.
- Don’t leave it up to the emcee to write your Introduction.
- It is your responsibility, not the emcee’s, and is an integral part of your presentation.
- It is not your bio. The Introduction should answer three questions:
- Why this subject?
- Why this speaker?
- Why now?
- You write it because no one knows what should be on it better than you!
- Don’t tell a joke to be telling a joke.
- All presentations don’t need humor. However, if done well, it can be “icing on the cake.”
- Humor can be great because it can make an emotional connection to your audience. But it has to be appropriate to the presentation and your audience.
- The best humor is self-effacing, but don’t overdo it.
- Don’t run over your allotted time.
- There are scheduled events before and after you present. Respect those events and the audience and contain your talk as scheduled.
- Fill the time your are allotted with great content and delivery. Finishing a bit early is OK; too early disrupts the agenda.
- Don’t assume the projector, computer, microphone, etc. will be in place and working as you asked.
- It is your presentation and your responsibility that everything is in place and working.
- You, or someone else, may have delegated those duties, but it’s your ultimate job because it’s your presentation. That’s why. . .
- Don’t – NOT have a Plan B!
- Stuff Happens! You must be prepared to carry on if the projector fails, the computer crashes, the emcee forgets to bring your Introduction, etc.
- Practice Plan B. It is different delivering a presentation with all your slides showing well vs. giving the same information with one sheet of paper with the light table view of all your slides.
(I know this from personal experience. My “No Sweat!” presentation could easily have gone into “Big Sweat!”)
- Don’t use buzz words, acronyms, or technical jargon that your audience won’t immediately understand.
- You won’t impress them – you’ll lose them!
- No one wants to feel “not OK,” and they’ll quickly turn you off.
- You won’t impress them – you’ll lose them!
- Don’t have Q&A after you close your presentation.
- That’s why the Closing is called the Closing!
- If you’re going to have a Q&A, place if before your Closing.
- The ‘Law of Primacy and Recency’ says the last thing the audience hears is the first thing they will remember. That’s why it’s imperative to have a Strong Closing.
- If the Q&A is after your closing, and you are challenged, or don’t know the answer, that is what the audience will remember. It’s probably not the take-away you want them to leave with.
- That’s why the Closing is called the Closing!
Now that you’ve read these Don’ts – Study them and Don’t do them!
For reading, and/or listening, this far I’d like to give you a FREE Gift.
Go to: https://nosweatpublicspeaking.com/freegift to receive it!
About the Author
Fred E. Miller is a speaker, a coach, and author of the book,
“No Sweat Public Speaking!”
Businesses and individuals hire him because they want to improve their
Public Speaking and Presentation Skills.
They do this because we perceive really great speakers to be Experts.
Perception is reality and we rather deal with Experts.
They also know:
Speaking Opportunities are Business Opportunities.
Speaking Opportunities are Career Opportunities.
Speaking Opportunities are Leadership Opportunities.
He shows them how to
Develop, Practice, and Deliver ‘Knock Your Socks Off Presentations!’ with –
No Sweat!
Fred E. Miller
Fred@NoSweatPublicSpeaking.com
nosweatpublicspeaking.com
314-517-8772
5 Comments
Number three is very important to people who, like me, give the same information but not the same presentation. It makes a difference to tailor your presentation to your audience, even if you’re giving the same information. They need to be able to relate to you in order for you to hold their attention.
These are great tips. I was just at a conference where one of the speakers had no presentation prepared. At all. Apparently she thought the audience had questions and that would fill the time. Which also speaks to your point about knowing the audience and tailoring your talk to them and their needs. Thanks for the reminder about preparing your own introduction. I am speaking next month at a publishers meeting, so I need to get busy on my intro!
Thanks, Dan.
It’s all about the audience and meeting their needs and exceeding their expectations.
Know who they are, why they are attending, and what they expect to learn.
Thanks for commenting!
Kim,
Sometimes observing the “bad” speakers reminds us how important it is to be good!
Thanks for visiting and commenting.
I’m sure your talk next month will be – “No Sweat!”
Great tips Fred!
Very important tips for both beginners and advanced speakers.