List of Attributes of the Best and Worst Presentations
from Chapter 3 of Presentation Skills for Technical Professionals
© Naomi Karten, naomi@nkarten.com, www.nkarten.com
Attributes of the Worst Presentations
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Opening with “We have a lot of slides to cover and only an hour to cover them.”
Showing signs of not caring about the audience, the topic, or the presentation
Spending too much time establishing their credentials
Not explaining what listeners are going to leave with
Not stating whether or when questions would be welcome
Plodding through half the slides, then racing through the rest, telling listeners they could read
them on their own
Explaining basic things in a condescending way
Providing minimal or no explanation of unfamiliar terminology and acronyms
Reading the slides or reading from a script
Not engaging the audience
Exhibiting tense body language and lack of eye contact
Moving around too much
Constantly saying um....um....um....
Lacking spontaneity and speaking in a monotone
Facing the screen rather than the audience
Belittling people whose views differed from the presenter’s
Trying to fake an understanding of the technology with technically savvy engineers
Dancing around a question instead of admitting to not knowing
Showing slides filled with tiny type or difficult-to-read color combinations
Having an overload of media: constantly switching among audio, video, slides, etc.
Being unable to continue the presentation when the laptop died
List of Attributes of the Best and Worst Presentations
from Chapter 3 of Presentation Skills for Technical Professionals
© Naomi Karten, naomi@nkarten.com, www.nkarten.com
Attributes of the Best Presentations
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Setting clear expectations about the objectives of the presentation
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Stating at the outset when it will be all right to ask questions
Making eye contact with the audience
Using energetic body language and a dynamic speaking style
Asking the audience engaging questions
Using quick surveys to gauge audience understanding
Incorporating an element of mystery or surprise
Telling relevant stories
Using audio, video clips, or movie clips – in moderation - to balance the use of slides
Using diagrams or images rather than bullet points
Involving and connecting with the audience
Appearing to enjoy giving the presentation
Speaking conversationally rather than in a formal tone
Establishing a dialogue with the audience
Speaking at a pace that’s easy to listen to
Using humor to connect with the audience
Using metaphors and analogies to relate information to everyday things
Presenting material that’s relevant to today’s business environment
Using relatively few slides
Using slides designed to communicate important and relevant ideas