Can I be 100% honest?
Most of the presentations advice online, in books, and training courses is useless.
Often it’s total crap.
Over the last 20 years I’ve racked up hundreds of hours of presentation experience and I’ve seen first-hand what works and what doesn’t.
There is uncountable amount of misinformation out there, but here are the 5 myths that I find the most irritating (especially because newbies waste their time on this stuff)…
Table of Contents
Myth #1: Lock eye contact for at least 2 seconds
Imagine an audience of 20 people.
That’s a minimum 40 seconds, not including the extra time taken for moving your head and accidentally repeating a “lock-on” in the same 40-second space.
I think this myth came about because some training companies have never sat back and actually thought about how long 2 seconds is. When you are talking to a large group, 2 seconds of exclusive eye contact is downright uncomfortable.
Eye contact shouldn’t have set minimums or be planned. You have enough to think about on stage.
Eye contact should be natural. Glance around the audience, occasionally you will maintain eye contact a little longer with some participants and that’s okay.
Follow this rule: You should only think about eye contact to remind yourself to look at the audience and to avoid looking at any one audience member for an extended time.
Myth #2: Plan and practice gestures
Another “pro-trainer tip.”
Let’s cut to the chase… Practiced gestures look ridiculous.
In a regular conversation you don’t practice gestures, so you shouldn’t do it on stage either.
Focus on knowing your subject matter and talking conversationally to the audience and the gestures will come naturally.
Myth #3: Your PowerPoint slide deck should be no more than 10 slides
Rubbish!
Your PowerPoint slide deck should be as long as it needs to be.
Of course, if you’re just filling slides with bullet points then shorter is better. But, if your slides are designed to support your talk, without taking focus away from you, then your slide deck can be as heavy or as light as it needs to be.
Myth #4: Ugly slides will destroy your speech
No they won’t.
But people who sell books and courses on slide design want you to believe it.
Ugly slides won’t enhance a speech but they can’t destroy it.
On the other hand a bad presenter can most definitely destroy a speech. Even if he has Steve-Jobs’-level slides.
Focus on getting your talk right first and the slides can follow.
Myth #5: The slide deck should contain all the information because the audience needs to review what you said
Crap!
Obvious crap… Think about it like this: The more reading material the audience have during your speech the less they are listening to you.
The slide deck needs to support your talk.
If you need to give take-away reading material, give out handouts at the end of your presentation.
Read up on what makes an awesome public speaker here.
What’s your experience? Let’s chat in the comments section below!
Cheers,
Dave
DERRICK FULLER says
I completely agree with the five myths listed in the article. I believe being natural and confident are the only ingredients needed to be a successful motivational speaker. Confidence being number one. Most often speakers feel that the audience can tell when they are nervous and that is never the case. Rather they are patiently waiting for the speaker to make their point. If the speaker knows the subject matter, they can be a day one speaker and be successful with confidence.
uday says
Well i believe the # of slides on presentations should be proportionate to the time you have for presenting them. Lazying around the slide or running through them without making point; will make audience less attentive. Also repetitions of information need to be avoided.
Alison says
Effective presenting and content/deck creation are two highly underrated skills… I fully agree with the 5 points you made. The only thing I would say is for #5 – its best to have your speaking notes complete (fully sentences) in the notes area of the deck… have had quite a few instances where a coworker was able to present on someone else’s behalf last minute because we required the notes to be accurate and complete whether they were going to follow them all. This also serves as your dry run script and your participant handout if needed.
Joseph Seiler says
yes to all that. I do not put anything on a slide that I am going to actually say. The slide is about what I am going to talk about, key points only, very brief. I deliver the material in the manner that best fits the audience
Sudhir Rao says
Dave,
I agree with all the points you have made. Many people talk about practicing in front of a mirror. Guess what, that has never worked for me.
I practice a couple of other approaches during my presentations.
1. I try to involve the audience when I present. While I keep to the topic, It gives people a sense of inclusion and in the process, I do end up learning too
2. The content on the slides should be visible all the way to the back of the room and at least one sentence should sum up the intent of the slide. As I tell the story, an intelligible one liner can help the audience connect to my story.
Alan Veach says
I could not agree with you more on all five points! Well stated and all so true.
Louis M Brown says
I have always found using “forced” gestures very unnatural and uncomfortable. I simply go with the flow and do what makes sense (e.g., spreading my arms really wide if we’re making a point about how large something is). Actually, I often need to “tone down” my body language and gestures because my upbringing involved a family communication culture of loud voices and overly dramatic hand waving (even where it doesn’t make sense – what is the hand gesture for “the”????). One gesture I actually find uncomfortable is the hand steeple gesture. That doesn’t seem natural to me, but perhaps to others it is.
Dave Mac says
The steeple thing is a little unsettling for me too, Louis. I think it doesn’t seem natural (you never see “real” people do it in “real” situations) and therefore it starts to erode any trust I had in the speaker.
Tony Ryan says
I completely agree. Be calm, be natural, know (and I mean really know) your subject matter, and connect conversationally with your audience. Slides should compliment what you are saying, not mirror it. And enjoy the engagement!
Rajani Seshadri says
Dave
A rule of thumb that I follow is that you should allow for roughly 3 minutes per slide in your deck – this includes discussions, Q&A, etc. So if my speaking slot is 30 minutes long, I would have no more than 10 slides, Maybe 11. This also takes care of some ‘light’ slides and some ‘heavy’ slides.
Also I find it off-putting if a speaker arrives with a presentation with 100 slides for a 30 minute talk. To me, it says, they haven’t done their homework about what they want to convey.
marc says
Ugly slides won’t ‘destroy’your speech, but they are not neutral. Ugly slides (if ugly enough) will distract the audience, weaken your impact, or reduce your credibility, just as ugly branding would do for a product. Your myth #4 suggests that ugly slides are perfectly ok, when in fact, they are not.
Dave Mac says
Thanks for your comment, Marc. I don’t believe that ugly slides are “perfectly ok”, however I do believe that a presentation’s success lies solely with the presenter. All a great slide deck can do is enhance an already good speaker. The world’s best slides won’t do anything to save a crappy presenter. However, an awesome presenter can compensate for bad slides. If you have a mediocre presenter with awesome slides, I would argue their preparation time would have been better spent practicing and improving their delivery rather than building the deck.
Wade Flowers says
Great points on eye contact. I like to think of it as good quarterback in football never staring down his receiver, but he is constantly scanning the field for open opportunities. If you see an open receiver take a longer look, but make sure everyone feels as if they are in on the play. They will continue to work on being open and the opposition may not be as defensive.
Alex says
I myself have logged at least 500 hours in software demos to both small and large audiences. I agree with all of what you wrote here. One of the first things I learned from my best sales mentor was “people buy from people”. Cliche as it is, it’s true. If you can’t connect with your audience and let them guide (by you listening more) you. The more honest and earnest you are on your approach the more they will trust what you’re saying and become a customer.
Jeffrey Jayne says
All great points and I would add one. Why did what we say become what the audience reads? It should compliment and reinforce and occasionally provide a specific example. If it doesn’t make a good video presentation it does not make a good deck. Seems like a shortcut to speaker notes without considering your role as a subject matter expert.
Laurie Tema-Lyn says
Nice piece. I totally agree. One of the best pieces of advice I learned from a presentation was when the presenter said something to this effect…
“I really don’t want to give a presentation per se, but see this an an opportunity to have a conversation with you…so I’m inviting you to listen and engage…”
The statement was made to a large audience but immediately the room felt intimate and he took questions periodically- held them back deftly at times to finish a point and then engaged again with the audience’s questions.
I use this approach and find it much more comfortable, and natural.
Chris Pehura says
Excellent points. I agree with the spirit of what you posted. I feel that a presentation is a conversation. Ever have a conversation with a robot? Too much practice and ridiculous 2 second eye contact rules make you act like a robot.
And for cluttered presentations? Well, it depends on the conversation you’re having. If you’re having a detailed conversation, more clutter could add value to that conversation. There are big firms out there for the last four decades that would show the current state of a business, with all of its clutter and mud. This was often used as a spring board to talk about business improvement strategies.
But, having clutter sudden appear where it doesn’t fit is like screaming “SQUIRREL” to your audience right out of the blue. Showing clutter then no clutter then clutter again is a lot like visual Tourette syndrome. It’s distracting.
In our training and coaching we offer our clients, we always say that given the time and the place anything you do will work. You must understand the time and the place.
Kathleen O'Keefe-Kanavos says
Dave, you are so right about the eye contact. 2 seconds of staring at someone can be downright rude in many areas of the world. Scanning your audience is the best rule. Great article!
Becky says
Another myth that needs to die: no graphics allowed. What about us visual learners??!! Pictures make every word more ‘presentable’….
Brigitte Birze says
I Totally agree Becky! A slide with a great image that supports the idea will tap into several learning styles, supporting visual learner, without the risk of learners reading the slide instead of listening to you. The eye candy also wakes up anyone that’s drifted off and re-engages them.
Frank Prestipino says
Best presentations I have ever seen did not use power-points.
Alvin Albert says
Love your observations and guidance. Straight and practical info. that can save a newcomer lots of time and money. I do, however, admire people who are comfortable using practiced gestures. Doesn’t work for me but I give them an A for their practice and effort.
bridgid says
I think the other myth is to tell you audience what you are going to discuss in the “introduction”. I don’t do this in conversations nor in presentations, the presentation should be interesting enough that the audience can wait to find out what comes next
Abd-el-AZIZ says
Its may be right but don’t also forget that by not telling them what you are going to discuss about, you run the risk to lose their attention and their interest. Right ?
Dave Mac says
Thanks for your comments, Bridged and And-el-AZIZ. I tend to agree with you both here. I think it depends entirely on who your audience is. Your presentation style will vary based on your audience, the time you have, and the time you think they are likely to invest in listening to your talk.
Rick says
Hi Dave:
Well done. I like it. 5 positive ways to present better, I haven’t heard it said any better. The best of success to you.
Positively,
Rick
Beatrice says
PowerPoint gets a bad name due to all of the reasons here. If it is used as a ‘ prompt’ with good quality image that portrays te main message, it is an excellent tool. It is not a crutch to enable poorly prepared individuals to read through each slide . If your audience can read it themselves why do they need you to read? A presenters job is to inspire, inform or motivate. Provide a great image , brief text, and talk with passion and confidence.
Philippa Leguen de Lacroix says
#3 and #5 really resonated with me! Great work.
I think another myth is that one about not having more than 6 bullet points of 6 words in length… it’s made too many presenters STILL use too many bullet points!
Dave Mac says
Philippa, thanks for your comment. I totally agree with you! 36 words on a slide is over the top! The 6×6 rule is probably one of those rules that was made up on the spot to give a trainee a concrete answer and it just worked it’s way into daily use. Really nice PowerPoints on your site, by the way!
Amy Stewart says
I bet it was a rule that came up early on to stop presenters from reproducing their speech on the screen. That was likely good advice then. But we’ve evolved, and it’s become bad advice.
Mark Ricci says
People use too many bullet points because they try to treat each slide like a resume and keep it to one page. Either you have enough material for two easily viewable slides and you should be confident in that or you’re just needlessly cramming every thought you have into one slide.
Muntazir Haider says
Very well crafted – well said … you wrote against alot of no-sense so-called rules of thumb … thumbs up 🙂
Betsy Chaput says
Dave, I agree with what you are saying, but the typos in your piece reduced your professional credibility.
Dave Mac says
Dear Betsy, thank you very much for taking the time to point out there were typos. I have been through it and corrected them (hopefully all of them!) Best, Dave.
Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE Presentation Expert says
Myth #1: Lock eye contact for at least 2 seconds
Although I agree your point of view of your PowerPoint comments I teach make eye contact for a thought, idea or phrase and longer than 2 seconds. With a large audience you will not make eye connection with everybody, however, the piece of the pie segments of the extended contact will feel as if they connected with you.
Jennifer says
I was taught to make eye contact for an entire sentence or thought. A fixed 2-second rule is useless in either direction. If you switch every 2 seconds you will seem like a jack rabbit – jumping around; forcing longer than 2 seconds – you might come across as staring/creepy.
Alison says
If you want to hold people’s attention you do need to look at them… especially the ones checking their email during the session:). A presenter who doesn’t make eye contact comes across as not confident. When I mentor Trainers we do an exercise on how long is too long to hold someone’s gaze (awkward but fun)… it all depends on the presenters confidence and experience, and they need to read the person who they are looking at… they will definitely give you visual clues you when you are moving into “creepy” mode.
Jeff McKissack says
Totally agree on every point mentioned!
Best advice for anyone speaking in public is just “be yourself”, OK maybe a little enhanced, but not a split personality. People seeing you on-stage will want to meet *that* person off-stage, so make sure the two are the same.
Hugh Graham says
I agree, there’s no one better you can be than yourself! Understanding how you might be perceived by the way you behave naturally, and possibly refining some elements of this can help! That’s certainly my approach to coaching people on delivering presentations.