March 28, 2006

The plague of lousy presentations

Filed under: leadership and marketing and communication at 8:21 am

I attended a local business event last week involved presentations by three C-level leaders of small companies. I chose to attend the event because all three have what I consider to be interesting — even “very cool” in one case — product/service offerings. In fact, I believe each company has, to varying degrees, world-changing potential. I wanted to learn more, and was eager to hear their story.

Not a one of them wowed me with their talk. In fact, one of them looked overwhelmed with boredom, showing no desire to be there.

I’ll admit it – one of my pet peeves is sitting through a lousy Powerpoint or public speaking performance by anyone at a VP- or C-level. At such times, I’m tempted to stand up and yell things like, “Stop leaning on the podium! Stop reading your slides! Show some passion! Talk to us!”

Maybe I’m being harsh. After all, public speaking is still one of the biggest fears for even the sharpest tacks. I should know…I was absolutely terrified of public speaking as a youngster, and not much better in my early professional career. To this day, I am an introvert by nature (that may surprise some who know me professionally). That’s not unusual – management guru and speaker extraordinaire Tom Peters recently admitted his own shyness streak here.

I had to work at it to get better at public speaking. Spent time visualizing my presentations and rehearsing my speeches. Tried the “imagine the audience is wearing underwear” trick. Made some mistakes at times, even embarrassed myself more than once.

Today, there’s something about a stage – large or small – that I truly enjoy. I still get mild butterflies before the first slide of a small-group presentation or the first sentence to a larger group, but I consider that “good energy” which originates more from the desire to do well than from fear of failure.

Don’t get me wrong. I certainly haven’t “arrived” yet as a speaker. I don’t make daily speeches, and I’m not currently on any public speaking circuits. When I do periodic presentations, I still have some performances which are better than others. But I think I’ve come a long way, and I’m getter a little better with each at-bat. I only wish more leaders would put the same effort into improving their own performances.

Why do lousy presentations drive me crazy? It’s not I’m-better-than-you ego (although that does cross my mind at times). I truly want to get excited about what other companies are doing. I want to see their leaders attract more investors, the best talent in their field, and more clients. I want to see the proverbial rising tide which lifts all boats, creating more prosperous conditions for all of us. And I want to see others deliver great performances so I can continually learn more about how to improve my own game.

We need more great speakers, great storytellers. Communication guru Bert Decker has started a series of posts on the five biggest mistakes CEOs make in public speaking (the first three are here, here, and here). Seth Godin suggested the best presentation earlier this month. Read those posts. Buy books on the topic. Get professional help. Videotape yourself. Practice, practice, practice.

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  1. […] Rogers Blog - Presentation mistakesRogers BlogFamilie, Freunde, Sachen…2006-03-29Presentation mistakes Von roger @ 08:51 [ Diverses ] The Five Biggest Mistakes CEO’s make in public speaking (and how to overcome them.) The Bell Curve Scar: The plague of lousy presentations See also: Presentation Zen KommentareBis jetzt keine Kommentare zu diesem BeitragKommentar verfassenNameE-MailUrlIhr KommentarAnti-Spam Überprüfung (Code ins Eingabefeld übertragen) Auto-BR (Zeilenumbrüche werden <br>-Tags) NEUESTER MOBLOG 2006-03-29 15:19:06LETZTE BEITRÄGEbesuch bei hochparterreSybille und Urs vom Ho…What is the USP of 20 …Presentation mistakesAjax bei André KATEGORIEN AlleBloggingCultureDefaultDiversesEducationFamilyGlobal WarmingICHIBAJapanese (日本語)KAYWA MondomediaMoving Imagenow foreverOpen Standards, -Conte…ParisPolitikThings JapaneseVisual Diary from TuscanyVisualsWeb 2.0, Mash-Ups …XML, XSLT…ZürichGALERIENMeine Bilder  [33] Business  [14] Films  [2] SMIL Conference 2003  [23] Frühe Moblogs  [9] Family  [63] Me  [5] Paris  [7] ABC  [4] Social Events  [10] MY OTHER WEBLOGSAll about Mobile LifeItadakimasuKAYWA BlogTremendousFAMILYIreneJürgMatthiasMiriamNadiaSimone und NiklausWernerSOME KAYWA BLOGSAndreas GöldiBandsmagazineBeatbenkös natelföteliCINEMAetoyFlinkHannesHelsinkiklubJérômeJean-SébastienMartin KilianMichaelMoland FengkovMurielNetzlernenNick LüthiONLOGOrnellaPatricePolisPop CulturePortalogRobRolands EreignishorizontSébastienSandrineSchrankenlosSmoothplanetSowasTom KawaraType and the CityVenture LawZahidaBUSINESSKAYWAKAYWA BlogBLOGROLLAmy Jo KimAnnieAntipixelAsteriskBernhard SeefeldBlog AfricaBlogmatrixBrainstorms and RavesCarsten and JunCitizen: BaselDienstraum (M. Genova)DottocomuEasterwoodFilm + KritikfilmkritikFilmtagebuchGonGregorHacking the LibraryHicksdesignichibaITU NewslogJeansnowJoi ItoJon UdellKeith’s weblogLoïc Le MeurMakiko ItohMany 2 ManyMetrobaselMezzoblueMoblogging.orgMoshi Moshi :: neo jap…naija jamsNutzbarOliver ThylmannPete Barr WatsonrebellRoss MayfieldSam RubySememergenceSense WorldwideshortcutwebSwissventuresTee erlebenThe Diary of Samuel PepysThe Spirit MercuriousUrsWirearchyZZ/OSSMETAWEBBlogdexBlogpulseDaypopDice La Red: BlogsInto the BlogosphereTechnoratiVisitor Map LogWaypath to meDICTIONARIESLEO (English)LEO FrançaisRikai - direct japanes…WordoriginsEDUCATION MANE IT NetworkAbject LearningInfocult: Information,…Martin Hofmann PHRMartin LindnerMoeNetzlernenNitle Tech NewsSeb PaquetSebastian FiedlerSimpleCOMMUNITY JOURNALISMUSEdublog PHRHaefligers BlogImage VerbesserungNews aus dem Rieselfeldr3to blogSulai’s BlogTruchets BlogSUCHE SuchenARCHIVMärz 2006Februar 2006Januar 2006Dezember 2005November 2005Oktober 2005September 2005August 2005Juli 2005Juni 2005Mai 2005April 2005März 2005Februar 2005Januar 2005Dezember 2004November 2004Oktober 2004September 2004August 2004Juli 2004Juni 2004Mai 2004April 2004März 2004Februar 2004Januar 2004Dezember 2003November 2003September 2003Juli 2003Juni 2003Mai 2003März 2003Februar 2003SERVICE     […]

    Rogers Blog - Presentation mistakes on 30 March 2006 at 12:11 am

  2. […] More than six months ago, I talked about a series of speeches which failed to inspire me in the plague of lousy presentations. […]

    The Bell Curve Scar » Incite, you must on 2 October 2006 at 4:53 pm

  3. Valtrex.

    Valtrex.

    Valtrex. on 26 June 2008 at 6:03 pm

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