{"id":3539,"date":"2023-07-04T11:51:18","date_gmt":"2023-07-04T11:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tessardavis.com\/?p=3539"},"modified":"2023-07-04T11:51:18","modified_gmt":"2023-07-04T11:51:18","slug":"did-your-last-presentation-fall-flat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tessardavis.com\/did-your-last-presentation-fall-flat\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Your Last Presentation Fall Flat?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever given a presentation that fell flat, Reader?<\/p>\n

I have.<\/p>\n

There I was, pouring my heart and soul into a presentation I had worked on for freaking hours.<\/p>\n

But, as I glanced out at the audience (only for a second because I was trying to remember what I was going to say next), I saw people flicking through their phones.<\/p>\n

Checking Twitter no doubt.<\/p>\n

Or that very important work email.<\/p>\n

Someone had actually nodded off!<\/p>\n

Oh man, I wasn’t even keeping people’s attention enough for them to bother to stay awake.<\/p>\n

It sucked.<\/p>\n

Here’s the lessons I learned on how to stop it happening:<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div>

The Problem: You Are Stuck In Your Own Head<\/h2>\n

I made this mistake every single time I spoke.<\/p>\n

I practiced, practiced, practiced.<\/p>\n

I rehearsed so many times that all I could think about was the next line. Even when I was saying a sentence I wasn’t even thinking about the words coming out of my mouth.<\/p>\n

\n

What is my next section after this one?<\/p>\n

\u200bHow am I doing for time?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It took me years to realise this was my problem.<\/p>\n

How could I expect my audience to concentrate on what I was saying when I wasn’t even concentrating on it?<\/p>\n

Once I came to grips with this being my problem, my presentations and teaching changed entirely.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div>

The Solution: Get Out Of Your Head And Connect With Theirs<\/h2>\n

I guarantee this is where you’re going wrong:<\/p>\n

1: Your Timing Is Crappy<\/h3>\n

I used to just wing my timing, keep an eye on the clock, and wrap up before I got wrestled off the stage.<\/p>\n

Good timing doesn’t happen by chance, and winging it is a terrible way to go.<\/p>\n

Whether it’s a meeting, a conference, or a pitch, we all have a time restriction.<\/p>\n

Our audience has lives and other things to be getting on with.<\/p>\n

Let’s be real. Nobody in the history of mankind has cried because someone finished a presentation early.<\/p>\n

But I am livid when someone runs over. It tells me that they haven’t planned problem, and that they don’t care about the audience.<\/p>\n

Good timing comes with planning. Aim to talk for 80% of your allocated time.<\/p>\n

If you finish early, everyone wins.<\/p>\n

But it gives you some leeway to go longer than you did when you practised.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div>

2: Your Slides Are Your Crutch<\/h3>\n

As soon as I see someone’s opening slides, I make a judgement.<\/p>\n

I know, I’m a terrible audience member.<\/p>\n

But I completely switch off if someone’s first slide is shit.<\/p>\n

Because it tells me that they are only thinking about themselves.<\/p>\n

Please don’t tell me that putting everything on slides helps your audience. I call nonsense.<\/p>\n

They put it all on the slides….for themselves.<\/p>\n

It’s normal for us to worry that we won’t remember what we’re saying.<\/p>\n

If I need notes, I print them out and hold them in my hand.<\/p>\n

If I want my audience to have more info, I print them out handouts.<\/p>\n

If I want my talk to be accessible, I make sure there’s an audio loop.<\/p>\n

Or use an interpreter.<\/p>\n

Or have captions.
\n\u200b<\/p>\n

Stop blaming your slides.<\/p>\n

Liberate yourself from them. You’ll feel better, I promise.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div>

3: You’re Obsessed With Showing Off Your Knowledge<\/h3>\n

When I coach presenters most of them feel worried that the audience won’t think they are good enough.<\/p>\n

It seems like we all have a giant case of Imposter Syndrome.<\/p>\n

What happens when we feel this:<\/p>\n

We begin with a long intro to explain who we are.<\/p>\n

We stress that someone will leap up and explain why we are wrong\/stupid.<\/p>\n

We cram everything we know on the topic into the presentation so the audience can be in no doubt as to how knowledgeable and expert we are.<\/p>\n

99% of the time the audience knows who you are. You are on the event program, or they can Google you.<\/p>\n

You have their attention.<\/p>\n

Don’t show off.<\/p>\n

Try to think about it from their point of view.<\/p>\n

Less ‘what do I want to teach them’ and more ‘what do they want to hear from me’.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div>

I make mistakes every time I present my ideas.<\/p>\n

The best way you can move forward – don’t accept that where you are now is where you’ll always be.<\/p>\n

Presenting well is a skill that can be learned like everything else.<\/p>\n

Get out of your head and be there with your audience.<\/p>\n

See you next week.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever given a presentation that fell flat, Reader? I have. There I was, pouring my heart and soul into a presentation I had worked on for freaking hours. But, as I glanced out at the audience (only for a second because I was trying to remember what I was going to say next), I saw people flicking through their phones. Checking Twitter no doubt. Or that very important work email. Someone had actually nodded off…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tessardavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3539"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tessardavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tessardavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tessardavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tessardavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3539"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tessardavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3539\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3543,"href":"https:\/\/tessardavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3539\/revisions\/3543"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tessardavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tessardavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tessardavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tessardavis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}