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What to do if your presentation sucked.

By Michelle Mazur > July 31, 2013

Filed Under Coaching/Feedback , Communication , Presentations , Public Speaking

Let's face it – you can't hit every presentation out of the ballpark. What do you do if your presentation sucked?

I don't mean in your mind sucked. I mean it unquestionably without a doubt, and you've got the feedback forms to prove it SUCKED.

How do you recover from a bad presentation?

Table of Contents

• 1 Stop beating yourself up
• 2 Realize Your Message Matters Most
• 3 Presentation autopsy
• 4 Bad Presentations Happen To Good People

Stop beating yourself up

A bad presentation traumatizes. My clients tell me stories of bad speaking experiences that happened 1 year, 5 years or even 10 years ago.

From that time, they started avoiding presentations like Adam Sandler movies (which historically traumatize moviegoers everywhere). That's far too long to be hanging on to a bad experience.

Speaking is like falling off a bicycle – you've got to get right back on. When you've screwed up a presentation, it does no good to ruminate about how much you suck.

Get back on that bike and start figuring out how you can rock it out next time.

When you are asked to speak, say a resounding, “YES!” instead of slinking off resolved never to speak again. If Adam Sandler can keep making craptastic movies, surely you can give another speech.

Realize Your Message Matters Most

The vast majority of the time a presentation flops not because of your delivery but because of your message.

While it's easy to say “I'm just not a good speaker,” realize that a mediocre speaker with an amazing message can still make an impact.

As I've been pivoting my business more and more to work with coaches, consultants, and service-based business owners on the way their business communicates, they realize that their message does so much for their business.

Having one core message (or as I like to call it a 3 Word Rebellion) is key for the success of a business or for the success of your presentation.

Ask yourself was the message clear? Did it focus on one core message?

Message clarity = presentation success.

Presentation autopsy

Grim, dark, and time for a bit of brutal honesty. The upside of giving a presentation that sucked is – it's a great learning opportunity.

Now ask yourself, “Did I do everything in my power to prepare for this presentation”? Did the words, “I can totally wing this,” ever fall from your lips? Here are several digging in the dirt questions to ask yourself:

   * Did I really understand my audience? Did I know what they believed about my topic? Did I meet their expectations? Did I answer these three questions about the audience ?

*  Did I know my stuff?

* Did I practice my presentation? If you need help with practicing, download my guide to practicing your presentation – TODAY – I mean right now – immediately!

* Did you know how you were going to close the presentation?

* Was I prepared for the audience's questions?

* How was my delivery? Polished or rough or somewhere in between?

Be honest.  Giving yourself feedback can show you how you can improve your next presentation to ensure success.

Bad Presentations Happen To Good People

Realize that bad presentations do happen to good speakers and amazing people.

Sometimes you can do all your homework, be clear on your message, practice, know your material backward and forwards and the presentation just misses the mark.

Once I was invited to give a presentation on cultural trends. I worked closely with the meeting planner. In fact, she approved every slide I was going to present. This was an executive-level audience and she wanted the content to be perfect. I researched, I prepped, I practiced, I had great examples.

Five minutes into my presentation, one executive raised his hand and asked “Are these trends based on quantitative research?” My reply was, “No, they are qualitative cultural trends.” He and half the room tuned out. The presentation flopped. My mistake was basing my whole speech on information from one person. That question killed me and there was no way to save the presentation at the moment.

Looking back, I now see that I could have reached out to some of the executives as part of my preparation instead of leaning on the meeting planner. Great lesson. Now it's time to move on.

I recovered. You can too when your presentation sucks. The most important point is:  Keep Speaking.  Learn from your mistakes and don't let them hold you back.

Create Your One-of-a-Kind Message

Your 3 Word Rebellion is the Key to Growing Your Business & Impact

Yes! I’m ready to rebel!

26 responses to “What To Do If Your Presentation Sucked”

Michelle, as I’ve said before, your articles are very informative and helpful. Your website is a great pool of resourses that I always refer to. Thank you for the great tips, entertainment and content!

Thank you, John! I really appreciate you saying so! By the way, we all really miss you in Seattle.

Michelle, Your article is so helpful! I gave a presentation 4 weeks ago and it was my first presenting experience! I was anxious, my voice was breaking and In the questions part my brain went dead and I couldn’t even think of the questions!. The audience was understanding and did not show a negative reaction to my performance. Now i lookat it and I realize that I should have controlled my anxiety and calmed down. I am still beating up myself even though it has been 4 weeks since the presentation, but I definitely will be presenting again the next opportunity I’ll have. Thank you for your article

You’re welcome! I’m one of those who beats myself up too for things that don’t live up to my personal standard. I feel your pain. Letting go is so hard, but when you think about what you learned – it helps to get back on the presentation bicycle.

Wonderful article, Michelle! The whole premise of our product is founded precisely on what you hit upon here. Performing an autopsy on your presentation is so important, and we feel asking your audience is simply the purest and most honest way to truly discover what was lacking. As you said, best thing to do is to “keep speaking”.

We’d love your opinion/feedback on our new product (PheedLoop). http://www.pheedloop.com

The only way to improve as a speaker is to get feedback. I think it’s also worth noting that not all feedback is created equally. The key is to be open to feedback, apply it, and if it doesn’t work for you don’t be afraid to discard it.

Hey Michelle. What is your advice on having an open Twitter chart going on while you present. I just did a presentation this week and at the request of the social media savvy audience, I opened a chat room but mistakenly tried to moderate a panel while also moderating the Twitter chat. It was not possible to do both and impacted my moderating the panel. The audience made 2-3 comments about my “not moderating”. So I learned and won’t do that again. But I feel awful. Like it was public humiliation. I presented on a telecon yesterday and I normally am NOT nervous via the phone. I had totally anxiety and almost couldn’t breathe. Is there such a thing as speaker PTSD? I got back on the bike but if I was with a live audience they absolutely would have seen my nervousness. Am considering a Xanax prescription. : )

I’d say that you can never serve two masters. Twitter chats move so fast! There’s no way you can engage your audience (who needs to be your priority) and run the chat. The best thing to do is to use the hashtag for the event and after the fact respond to what was tweeted.

It does sound like you have a bit of Speakers PTSD. First, give yourself credit that you tried something different. You experimented. It didn’t work out and you learned for it. Second, forgive yourself for making a mistake. The audience members probably have forgot by now. Finally, the next time you present and you have anxiety about it because you’re afraid your going to fail. Breathe, say to yourself “this situation is different. I’ve got this.”

We all make mistakes. It’s time to forgive yourself.

I gave a presentation this week. I felt myself literally choking on my words, the ticking seconds feeling like hours passing by. Somehow I got A message across and was able to answer questions to the audience out in the main hallway. When I went back to the hotel and slept that night I felt pretty beat down and drained only to awaken in the middle of the night feeling that I hadn’t presented THE message to the audience.

I know that presentation is over and done with and I’ve forgiven the “self” that was on the stage for what he did and didn’t do. Now how do I give those audience members the message that they deserved to hear?

Hi Carlos – that’s a tough question. Unforutnately, you cannot give them the message they deserved to hear. The time has past.

The only thing you can do is learn from the situation. How did you prepare for the presentation? How did your practice? Were you crystal clear on your message and confident on how it was organized? How did you prepare yourself emotionally and physically the morning of the speech and before you stepped on stage? Go beyond forgiving yourself and get to the bottom of why this happened and be inspired to improve. Hire a coach. Join Toastmasters. Do whatever is in your power to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Throughout my entire highschool career I have been giving bad presentation and for weeks I would be depressed. I just don’t get how other people are so great a presenting! I had this group project a week ago and everyone in my group did their part great but when it came down to me I was horrible. I’m just so scared because I’m getting into college and I know there will be countless presentations .I don’t wont it be a repeat of highschool presentations. Your article is very helpful and informative. Thank you for this and I really hope college would be different for me.

Even as an Adam Sandler fan, I loved this article. Today I had a presentation that was just awful. It was scattered, brief, and just flat out bad. What’s worse is that the instructor of the course is my advisor. I had been overwhelmed with my GAship work that I put this aside thinking I’d be ok. Wrong. Michelle was right. I was unprepared and didn’t know how the presentation would go. I thought I would wing it. As a result I was unconfident and it showed. Ultimately, I cannot stop ruminating. What does my advisor think of me now? How will this affect my letter of rec? My peers must think I’m so stupid. Etc. I am regarded as a notable student otherwise. Faculty seem to give me a lot of praise and I do great things in my program. But after today, I felt like a fraud. I felt my advisor was disappointed. I can still see her face. This sucks. But in any event this article helped me feel better. Bad presentations do happen to good people. I have another presentation for a final tomorrow. I will prepare myself more.

Thanks Michelle.

Hi Paul. First, I’m sending you a big virtual hug because I know how rough it can be. Second, I’m going to give you a piece of advice the my MA advisor came to me. When you’ve done really good work, you’re getting a lot of praise, and the faculty loves you – what happens is that you develop what researchers call a “halo effect.” These people are already primed to like you. If you have an off-performance, they chalk it up to “Oh Paul had a bad day” if they even noticed at all. Go hit the next presentation out of the park, but it takes a lot more for one bad day to ruin your reputation.

I so appreciate this article as I sit and ponder how badly my presentation went tonight. First talk in 10 years. Disastourous. First, I show up with my flash drive only to find out there was no computer! There was a miscommunication between the coordinator and the staff. I had to call someone to bring a laptop at the last minute. Slightly anxiety provoking. Finally get the presentation loaded, and forgot about connecting to the internet prior to the slide where I was going to show a video. Got that working and then we couldn’t get the sound to come on. So, abandoned the video. In fact, 3 short videos that I was using to drive some points home. Talked on a microphone that gave interference the entire time. Then, I idiotically tried to do a “turn and talk” exercise with a group of people that I could not strike up a rapport with to save my life. Instead of turning and talking- they literally just stared at me, stone cold, and said nothing. Next slide.

Oh Crystal! First, breath. Second, do something nice for yourself tomorrow. Take a bath. Treat yourself to a pedicure or a glass of wine. But be gentle with yourself. Finally, after you’ve taken a day or two to process, get back on the horse and start again. And finally, finally these people don’t sound like the right audience for your presentation. Hang in there.

Great advice Michelle. I would be lying if I didn’t say I’ve had a few seminars, workshops & guest speaking gigs that didn’t quite turn out as I hoped… The best thing indeed is as you suggested – be kind to yourself (nobody is perfect), and then after a time of healing, get back at it and evaluate how to be stronger next time. 🙂

Thank you Matt! Speaking is a process of improvement. And bad experiences tell us what we need to focus on to be at our very best every time we speak. But there’s no point in beating yourself up.

Indeed. Keep up the great work!

[…] What to do if your presentation sucked. 3 steps to coping with a presentation that blows.  […]

I completely flopped my first sales presentation today to my senior management. I have always been confident about my speaking skills. However this time i started of stuttering and was completely distracted by an audience asking me incoherent questions and facial expressions of confusion and disbelief. Everything went downhill from there…. I even reported wrong figures ( which i worked hard to research and was feeling mighty about) to my general manager, and he completely busted me. I felt like crying after my turn…. Now i really do not know how to face everyone in the office. I feel like i’ve lost all my credibility.

Hello I had to present my science fair PowerPoint and everything went wrong like all my slides were out order and my data table didn’t show up and graph was messed up and she told me that I did it all wrong front of the class turns out you have to have 9 trials instead of 3 trials and at the end people were asking questions which I couldn’t awnser cause I did wrong I was the only person in the class who got it wrong she let me redo science fair and I got a good grade and a couple weeks later she let me represent my PowerPoint and everything went well but I’m traumatized by my old presentation and still stressed that everyone hated that presentation please help me overcome this btw I’m 12

I’m an interior design student and yesterday was my final presentation, that was the worst presentation I’ve ever done..my presentation board was not too good i can’t answer the question they asked because i was too panic and that made me keep silent, and i heard on of my lecturer says that i failed this presentation she was loud..my class mates looking at me..i felt so embarrassed..after i finished my presentation no one claps no one cares why my presentation sucks even my friend, i cried and cried till now can’t stop crying..ur article really helped me..feel like someone still here to help me..

Hey there, I know how it feels when no one claps after ur presentation gets over while giving it in front of many people, including ur batchmates.. I had faced the same situation while giving presentations for minor project in my final year of graduation. But today again I had given presentation in front of 50 people including officemates. Recieved a huge round of applause from everyone. & That voice of clapping was so overwhelming for me.

I just wanted to say keep hustling, & while giving presentations donot give a fuck what they are thinking or what they will think. Save this formula in ur thought process as I did.

Don’t worry, there are lots of people who come across these situation of embarrassment. But you will only be remembered if you will learn & rise above from situation. We are with you 🙂 Best of luck ahead.

I am a Master’s Medical Science student and I recently had to give a presentation. First my supervisor and I agreed on working early with my slides so I sent them to her a month in advance. She only looked at them on the day of submission with little to no input. When I gave the presentation in front of the faculty of medicine I was calm. I spoke clearly and I looked like a winner. When it got to question time. Non of the questions had anything to do with my research. They were all personal attacks and they tried to make me look stupid to which they succeeded. Funny enough it was orchestrated by one department and all my supervisor could do was hide her face and just walk out. Most students that day had the benefit of having their supervisor jump in but not mine. In fact one doctor said that I was basically doing a PhD defence on my own and confirmed that the questions were attacks.

i had a speech on gender discrimination today and I knew it word to word cause I practiced but I went up on the stage in front of around a hundred people and I completely messed up all my points and missed a very important section because of my nervousness Everyone expected me to do great because when we practised in groups I was excellent But something about all those people staring atb me and all the people that gave their speech before (who by the way most of them rocked) I messed up really bad and i feel like shit

I did a presentation yesterday on Unfair Labour Practices, 5minutes into my presentation the lecturer tells me “your slides are very detailed can you try shortening it because I have other people doing presentations today” I accepted and accommodated her but was flustered trying to remember facts while trying not the read slides, I missed out important information, and agter 10 minutes she tells me “I’m giving you 5minutes to finish”, so basically I had been rushed my whole presentation, I was flustered and already panicking by then an afterwards she tells the class that reading off slides is not a presentation further insulting me. I have another presentation on Monday and I’m already nervous because of this one incident. I doubt I’d ever be able to forget it.

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Help me get over a work presentation disaster. january 7, 2020 10:32 am   subscribe.

Bad Presentation At Work | Best 5 Tips To Avoid Disastrous Experience in 2024

Jane Ng • 08 April, 2024 • 14 min read

I gave a bad presentation at work . I am finding it hard to face people in my office now. How should I get over it? – This is an evergreen topic on popular forums like Quora or Reddit. Most of us working people seem to have problems with presentations and do not know how to overcome this pain. 

Hey! Don’t worry; AhaSlides would be more than happy to help you by giving common mistakes everyone might face & how to fix them.

Table of Contents

• #1 – “Can I refuse to do a presentation at work?”
• #2 – Why Do We Have To Present Despite So Many Embarrassing Experiences?
• #3 – The Most Common Mistakes In A Bad Presentation And How To Fix It?
• #4 – 5 Ways to Recover From Bad Presentation
• #5 – Use an Interactive Presentation Software To Make Your Dream Speech Come True
• #6 – How AhaSlides can help you!
• #7 – Conclusion
• Frequently Asked Questions

More Funs with AhaSlides

• Ultimate Guide to Interactive Presentation
• Zoom presentation tips
• Icebreaker Games to avoid bad presentation at work!
• What is glossophobia?
• How to conclude presentation?

Start in seconds.

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So, let’s get started!

‘ Can I Refuse To Do A Presentation At Work? ‘

This question must be on the minds of people who fear public speaking . 

This fear can happen due to fear of failure, audience, high stakes, and being the centre of attention. Thus, when faced with a presentation, many people experience the classic fight-or-flight response such as heart palpitations, tremors, sweating, nausea, shortness of breath, dizziness, and resulting presentation problem that makes the “a sad memory” such as:

• You turn your presentation into a lullaby that makes everyone yawn, roll their eyes, or keep checking their phones to see when you’re done.
• Your mind goes blank. No matter how many times you practice, just being on the stage makes you forget everything that needs to be said. You start standing still or drunk with nonsense. Make the presentation end with shame.
• You are running out of time. This could result from not timing your rehearsal first or technical problems. Whatever the reason, you end up making a bad presentation that makes the audience not understand what you are trying to convey.

Why Do Present Despite So Many Embarrassing Experiences?

The answer is that presentations bring many benefits and are essential for product launching, marketing strategy, company trend reports, and many more.

• Product Presentation: Product presentations are a great opportunity to showcase your newly built or renovated feature products to the world. The purpose of this presentation is built around the introduction/improvement of your product to suit your users best or share about a new product with potential investors. You can take Apple’s iPhone launch as a typical example. 

• Marketing Presentation: No matter how quality your products or services are, they still require a proper marketing strategy to be known and be able to sell to your intended audience. So marketing presentations will come into play to the board of directors or other shareholders. They will decide if those strategies are feasible or not.
• Data Presentation: Once in the business, you will have to familiarize yourself with the numbers and reports that come from every department, like revenue reports, monthly/quarterly data reports, growth reports, etc. Therefore, to present data visually, easy to understand, and to remember with the leadership and related departments, you need to have a data presentation.

So if you don’t improve your presentation skills and still make one or more bad presentations, you will soon be out of business. Watch out!

Common Presentation Mistakes In A Bad Presentation And How To Fix It

What makes a bad presentation? Here are 4 common mistakes that even professional speakers can make & tips to fix:

Mistake 1: No preparation

• Great speakers always prepare. They know the topic to talk about, have an outline of the content, design impressive slides, and carefully study the key issues they want to present. Many people only prepare their presentation material 1-2 days or even hours before the presentation. This bad habit leads to the audience only hearing vaguely and not understanding what is happening. Since then, bad presentations have been born.
• Tips: To optimize audience perception and get the results you want after your presentation, practice speaking out loud at least once before standing on stage.

Mistake 2: Too much content

• Too much information is one of bad presentation examples. With the first presentations, you inevitably get greedy, cram too much content at once and include tons of videos, charts, and images. However, when all these types of content are used up, the presentation will become lengthy, with too many unnecessary slides. As a result, you will have to spend time reading the letters and numbers on the slide and skipping the audience.
• Tips: Outline the highlights you want to convey to your audience. And remember that the fewer words, the better. Because if a slide is too long, you will lose the audience by lacking connection and convincing. You can apply The 10 20 30 Rule . 

Mistake 3: No eye contact

• Have you ever witnessed a presentation where the speaker spends all of his time looking at his notes, the screen, the floor, or even the ceiling? How does this make you feel? That is one of examples of bad presentations. Looking someone in the eye helps establish a personal connection; even one look can draw an audience. If your audience is small, try to make eye contact with each individual at least once.
• Tips: To make a visual connection, eye gestures directed at each person must last at least 2 to 3 seconds or long enough to say a full sentence/paragraph. Effective eye contact is the most important nonverbal skill in a speaker’s “toolbox”.

Mistake 4: Discrete presentation

• Although we spend most of our day talking to each other, speaking to an audience is a difficult skill and one that we need to practice regularly. If anxiety causes you to rush your presentation, your audience may miss important points.
• Tips: Stabilize your mind by taking deep breaths to prevent confusion. If you start talking nonsense, it will take some time for you to settle down. Take a deep breath, and pronounce each word clearly as you focus on slowing down.

Keys Takeaways

It takes a lot of practice and effort to get a good presentation. But your presentation will be much better if you avoid common pitfalls. So here are the keys:

• Joint presentation mistakes include not preparing properly, providing inappropriate content, and speaking poorly.
• Check the location and familiarize yourself with the device first to avoid possible problems.
• Keep your presentation clear and concise, and use appropriate visual aids.
• Make sure you mention terms that are in line with your audience’s understanding so that your presentation avoids confusion.

But this part is just a way to deal with the technical aspects, prepare for a good presentation and help you to avoid “ Death by PowerPoint “. 

As for those who have lived with disaster experiences of a bad presentation, the next section is your mental recovery.

5 Ways To Recover From A Bad Presentation

To help you through the nightmare named a bad presentation, please do the methods given below: 

• Accept disappointment: It’s not always a good idea to “think positively” because feeling uncomfortable is normal . Accepting disappointment will allow you to let it go more quickly and move on. Give yourself time to endure the sadness and get up to the fight.
• Practice self-compassion: Don’t treat yourself in too harsh ways. For example, “I am a loser. No one wants to work with me anymore.” Don’t talk to yourself like that. Don’t let yourself lower your self-worth. Talk to yourself like you would speak to your best friend.
• It doesn’t mean anything about you: A lousy presentation doesn’t mean you’re a disaster or not qualified for the job. There will be factors you can control or not, but whether it’s the presentation’s content or the technical problem, your presentation disaster means nothing about who you are.
• Use failure as a motivation: A lousy presentation is an opportunity to figure out why it went wrong and to improve on the next production. You can learn more about how to avoid common mistakes that cause bad speeches here .

Use Interactive Presentation Software To Make Your Dream Speech Come True

Using Interactive Presentation Software has excellent benefits and can turn your bad presentation into a great one. It:

• Increase audience engagement, allowing them to connect with you and the purpose of your presentation.
• Improve retention. 68% of people say it’s easier to remember information when the presentation is interactive .

AhaSlides features are cloud-based – interactive presentation software that allows you to organize fun, interactive presentations for all your needs, with quizzes , Q&A app , word clouds , brainstorming slides, etc. 

Audiences can join the presentation from their phones and interact directly with the display with lots of attractive interactive options.

Learn more at AhaSlides’ template library !  

How AhaSlides for Business Works for You

Team meetings.

Create exciting virtual team meetings with AhaSlides. Engage your team with a live survey for instant feedback on how things are going with your business, any concerns the group may have, and any new ideas that colleagues think of. This not only creates opportunities for new ideas but makes your team feel listened to and cared for.

🎊 Host Host Free Live Q&A with AhaSlides

Team Building Sessions

Even virtually, you can create meaningful team building activities to get your team participating and working better with each other. 

An online quiz can be a great way to have everyone involved, or use our spinner wheel feature for an icebreaker game such as Never Have I Ever . These team-building exercises can be used as a social activity or during work hours as a break to get the team re-energised.

Project Kickoff

Get your team prepared with a well-organised kickoff meeting for your next project. Introduce everyone to the project and get them settled with popular ice-breakers. Use live polls and Q&As to efficiently compile everyone’s ideas and opinions, leading to a practical goal-creation strategy. Then, assign all your tasks and get started.

You can also use AhaSlides business to check in periodically to see how everyone is getting on and if you’re all on the same page.

Sales Proposal/Pitch Deck

Create unique and bespoke sales proposals with eye-catching business presentations. Include your branding and edit to suit your audience. Make sure your pitch gets noticed with amazing features such as polling, Q&A and brainstorming, then complete the captivation with highly visual slides.

Brainstorming Ideas

Use good old-fashioned brainstorming , with a modern twist to get ideas flowing. Start with an icebreaker or game to get your team energised and their brains active. The closer the group feels to each other, the more likely they are to share their ideas.

In Conclusion

Remember, public speaking is a performance. So, to avoid bad presentations at work, you must prepare and practice many times to make it perfect. Don’t lose confidence in yourself because of a bad representation for once. Follow AhaSlides articles to learn more about this topic!

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is a bad presentation.

A bad presentation fails to convey effectively its vital message to listeners and leaves an uncomfortable impression. It is confusing, unprofessional, less engaging, and don’t attract audience’s attention.

What are the effects of a bad or poor presentation?

The audience might find it challenging to understand the presenter’s points. Besides, they may feel that it is only a waste of time when listening to a bad presentation, which leads to frustration and disappointment.

A writer who wants to create practical and valuable content for the audience

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Article • 9 min read

10 Common Presentation Mistakes

Avoiding common pitfalls in your presentations.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

Most of us have experienced dull, irrelevant or confusing presentations. But think back to the last really great presentation you saw – one that was informative, motivating and inspiring. Wouldn't you love to be able to present like that?

This article looks at 10 of the most common mistakes that speakers make when giving presentations. By avoiding these, you'll make your presentations stand out – for all of the right reasons, and none of the wrong ones.

Mistake 1: Not Preparing Enough

Steve Jobs was a famously inspiring speaker. His speeches may have looked effortless, but, in reality, each one took days or weeks of preparation.

Careful preparation is essential. The amount of time you spend on planning depends on your situation, but it's a good idea to start early – you can never be too well-prepared.

Proper preparation also helps you to manage presentation nerves . When you know your material inside and out, you're far less likely to feel nervous. Our presentation planning checklist and Skillbook " Even Better Presentations " can help you to plan your next event properly.

Mistake 2: Not Familiarizing Yourself With the Venue and Equipment

Imagine that your presentation starts in an hour. You arrive at the venue and, to your horror, the projector won't work with your laptop. The slides you spent hours preparing are useless. This is a disaster!

You can avoid a situation like this by taking time to familiarize yourself with the venue and available equipment at least once before your presentation.

Often, the sorts of problems that can jeopardize your presentation will be situations beyond your control, but this doesn't mean that you're helpless. Conduct a risk analysis to identify potential issues, and come up with a good "Plan B" for each one.

Mistake 3: Ignoring Your Audience

Sometimes, speakers can get so wrapped up in delivering their presentations that they forget about the needs of their audience.

Start your presentation by telling your audience what to expect. Let them know what you'll cover first, whether and when you'll stop for a break, if you'll be taking questions during the presentation, and so on.

Providing these "signposts" up front will give your audience a clear idea of what to expect, so that they can relax and concentrate on your presentation.

Mistake 4: Using Inappropriate Content

The primary purpose of any presentation is to share information with others, so it's important to consider the level you'll pitch it at.

Do some research on your audience. Why are they here? How much do they already know about your topic, and what do they most want to learn from you? It's no use giving a presentation that's so full of jargon that no one understands you. But you wouldn't want to patronize people, either.

Try to put yourself in people's shoes, to get a clearer idea about their needs and motivations. You can also greet individuals as they arrive on the day, and ask questions to get a feel for their level of knowledge. This will also help you to personalize your presentation and make a connection with each person in your audience, so that they'll be more attentive to what you say.

Mistake 5: Being Too Verbose

Short, concise presentations are often more powerful than verbose ones. Try to limit yourself to a few main points. If you take too long getting to your point, you risk losing your audience's attention.

The average adult has a 15- to 20-minute attention span. So, if you want to keep your audience engaged, stick to the point! During the planning phase, make a note of the themes you want to cover and how you want to get them across. Then, when you start filling out the details, ask yourself: "Does my audience really need to know this?"

Our articles on the 7 Cs of Communication and Communications Planning have more tips for communicating in a clear, concise way.

Mistake 6: Using Ineffective Visuals

Poor slides can spoil a good presentation, so it's worth spending time getting yours right.

We've all seen slides with garish colors, unnecessary animation, or fonts that are too small to read. The most effective presentation visuals aren't flashy – they're concise and consistent.

When choosing colors, think about where the presentation will take place. A dark background with light or white text works best in dark rooms, while a white background with dark text is easier to see in a brightly lit room.

Choose your pictures carefully, too. High-quality graphics can clarify complex information and lift an otherwise plain screen, but low-quality images can make your presentation appear unprofessional. Unless an image is contributing something, embrace the negative space – less clutter means greater understanding. Use animation sparingly, too – a dancing logo or emoji will only distract your audience.

Mistake 7: Overcrowding Text

The best rule of thumb for text is to keep it simple . Don't try to cram too much information into your slides. Aim for a maximum of three to four words within each bullet point, and no more than three bullets per slide.

This doesn't mean that you should spread your content over dozens of slides. Limit yourself to 10 slides or fewer for a 30-minute presentation. Look at each slide, story or graph carefully. Ask yourself what it adds to the presentation, and remove it if it isn't important.

Mistake 8: Speaking Incoherently

Even though we spend a significant part of the day talking to one another, speaking to an audience is a surprisingly difficult skill, and it's one that we need to practice.

If nerves make you rush through a presentation, your audience could miss your most important points. Use centering or deep breathing techniques to suppress the urge to rush. If you do begin to babble, take a moment to collect yourself. Breathe deeply, and enunciate each word clearly, while you focus on speaking more slowly.

Our article on better public speaking has strategies and tips that you can use to become a more engaging speaker. One useful technique is storytelling – stories can be powerful tools for inspiring and engaging others. Our Expert Interviews with Annette Simmons and Paul Smith have tips that you can use to tell great stories.

Mistake 9: Showing a Lack of Dynamism

Another common mistake is to freeze in one spot for the duration of your presentation.

Some presenters feel most comfortable behind the podium. Try to emulate great speakers like Steve Jobs , who moved purposefully around the stage during his presentations.

As well as working the stage, he used gestures and body language to communicate his excitement and passion for his subject. Pay attention to what your hands are doing – they're important for communicating emotion. But only use gestures if they feel natural, and avoid being too flamboyant with your arms, unless you want to make your audience laugh!

See our Expert Interview, " Winning Body Language ," to learn more about body language and what it says to your audience.

Mistake 10: Avoiding Eye Contact

Have you ever been to a presentation where the speaker spent all of their time looking at their notes, the screen, the floor, or even at the ceiling? How did this make you feel?

Meeting a person's gaze establishes a personal connection, and even a quick glance can keep people engaged. If your audience is small enough, try to make eye contact with each individual at least once.

If the audience is too large for this, try looking at people's foreheads. The individual may not interpret it as eye contact, but those sitting around them will.

It takes practice and effort to deliver a good presentation. But, if you know how to avoid the pitfalls, your presentations will be great.

Common presentation mistakes include not preparing properly, delivering inappropriate content, and speaking poorly.

Time spent on careful planning always pays dividends. Check out the venue, and familiarize yourself with equipment in advance to avoid possible problems.

Keep your content clear and concise, with visual aids to match. And make sure that you pitch it at the right level for your audience's understanding, so that your presentation doesn't patronize or bewilder.

Remember, public speaking is a performance. Practice speaking clearly with a slower pace than your normal speech to avoid "rapid-fire" delivery. Use eye contact, body language and gestures that complement your message to keep your audience engaged.

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10 Ways to Avoid Presentation Failure

April 28, 2023

We’ve all sat through bad presentations – the kind that make you want to check your email or scroll through your social media. Maybe you’ve even had a presentation failure at work.  

But why do some presentations fail to engage and inspire, while others leave a lasting impression  , preparing a business presentation is a real skill; a core business skills.  and it’s a skill you can learn.  over the last 15 years we’ve coached thousands of people to be brilliant business presenters. , do please call us and we’ll tell you about our business presentation coaching – it’s fast and good value., in the meantime, we share the top reasons for bad presentations, with tips on how to avoid the fails., here are 10 reasons for presentation failure.

Let’s review each of these reasons in more detail:

1. You don’t prepare enough

If you haven’t put in the time to research and rehearse your presentation, it will show. You’ll deliver a bad presentation. You may fail to land your message, stumble over unfamiliar words, or struggle to answer questions from the audience. Make sure you give yourself enough time to prepare and practice to avoid presentation failure.

2. You have a poor structure

A poorly structured presentation can leave your audience floundering, unable to follow your train of thought, leaving them bored and disengaged.  Take time to plan.  What’s the overarching message or purpose?  What are your key points and are you providing clear evidence for each one?  Does your presentation have a logical flow? And, most importantly, do you start with a powerful opening and close strongly?

Contact us for a free consultation on your coaching needs

3. Over-reliance on slides

Slides can be powerful visual aids, but if you rely on them too heavily, you are on track for a presentation fail.  Slides should support your presentation, not drive it. You should be the focus of the audience’s attention, not your PowerPoint deck. 

Perhaps you don’t even need slides at all – many business leaders never use them.  Or think about what other visual aids you could use instead – powerful pictures, physical products, films or flip charts.

4. Lack of energy and enthusiasm

If you’re not excited about your presentation, your audience won’t be either.  If you look bored, they’ll feel bored.  Make sure you bring energy and enthusiasm to your talk.  Smile, make eye contact, use a strong and confident voice. 

Show that you’re passionate about your topic, that it’s important to you, that you believe what you’re saying.  Your enthusiasm will be contagious – and it will help you carry your audience with you. 

5. Ignorance of your audienc e

Have you thought about what your audience really wants and expects from your presentation?  What’s in it for them?  If you don’t take the time to understand their needs and interests, you’ll lose them.  If you lose your audience you’ll have a presentation failure.

Instead, carefully consider what matters to them, show you care about them.  Use language and examples that resonate with them.

6. Too much jargon

Jargon and technical language can be confusing and off-putting for your audience, especially if they’re unfamiliar with your business.  A typical bad presentation includes too much industry-specific jargon, acronyms and technical terms.  

The best presentations use simple, clear language.   Sometimes it helps to imagine that you’re a teacher, explaining difficult concepts to a teenager.  If your 15-year-old niece or nephew grasps your story, so will everyone else.

7. Lack of engagement

Making an emotional connection with your audience can often make the difference between a successful presentation and a failed presentation.  

Try asking questions, soliciting feedback and encouraging participation.  Get your audience involved.  Make them feel engaged.

8 . You are too formal in your presentation

Your presentation should reflect your personality and individual style.  If you’re too formal or stiff, it will feel as if you’re holding your audience at arms’ length, lecturing rather than informing them.  Be authentic and let your personality shine through.

9 . Irrelevance

There’s no point giving a technically brilliant presentation if it’s out of date or simply not appropriate for your audience. Your material should be relevant and timely. Keep it as topical as possible.  Use up-to-date data, anecdotes and examples. 

Avoid talking about things that may be interesting in their own right, but have no relevance to the subject of your presentation – or your audience may simply tune out.

10. No clear call-to-action

It’s important you’re clear about what you want your audience to do, think or feel at the end of your presentation.  A clear call-to-action is always the best way to close.  It may be that you want them to buy into a big change in your business, or take part in a survey.  Or you may just want to challenge them to think differently about something, or make a change in their behaviour.  To avoid bad presentations make sure your audience knows what you want them to do – and make it easy for them to do it.

How to be sure your presentation does not flop

Discover why presentations fails and avoid failed presentations.

How to Make Sure Your Presentations Don’t Flop

Great presentations take careful planning and preparation. By avoiding these 10 common pitfalls, you can create something that engages, informs, and inspires your audience.  You’ll avoid a failing presentation at work.

Remember to focus on their needs, inject energy and enthusiasm. Start strong and end with a clear call-to-action. With these simple tips, you can ensure your presentation doesn’t flop, but leaves a lasting impression.

Transform your presentation skills with tailored coaching

We can help you present brilliantly. Thousands of people have benefitted from our tailored in-house coaching and advice – and we can help you too .

“I honestly thought it was the most valuable 3 hours I’ve spent with anyone in a long time.” Mick May, CEO, Blue Sky

For 15+ years we’ve been the trusted choice of leading businesses and executives throughout the UK, Europe and the Middle East to improve presentation skills and presentations through coaching, training and expert advice.

Unlock your full potential and take your presentations to the next level with Benjamin Ball Associates.

Speak to Louise on +44 20 7018 0922 or email [email protected] to find out more and discuss transforming your speeches, pitches and presentations.

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Kelly Clarkson sets record straight on Ozempic rumors, says she started medication after 'bloodwork got so bad'

Kelly Clarkson has revealed she has slimmed down by taking a medication — but it’s not Ozempic .

Clarkson, 42, addressed speculation about her weight loss on Monday's episode of "The Kelly Clarkson Show" during an interview with guest Whoopi Goldberg. Their sitdown started with Clarkson complimenting Goldberg on how she looked.

“It’s all the weight I’ve lost. I’ve lost almost two people,” said Goldberg, who has acknowledged she’s taking the drug Mounjaro . “I am doing that wonderful shot that works for folks who need some help, and it’s been really good for me.”

Clarkson said she, too, has lost "a lot" of weight, saying, “Mine is a different one than people assume, but I ended up having to do that, too, because my bloodwork got so bad.”

“Everybody thinks it’s Ozempic. It’s not,” she added.

Ozempic, a drug that treats diabetes, is sometimes prescribed off-label for weight loss. It has skyrocketed in popularity and been credited by celebrities for helping them shed pounds .

Clarkson did not name the drug, which she described as “something that aids in helping break down the sugar — obviously my body doesn’t do it right.”

“My doctor chased me for, like, two years, and I was like, ‘No, I’m afraid of it. I already have thyroid problems,’” she said.

Clarkson revealed that at her heaviest she weighed 203 pounds and found herself unrecognizable.

She said that she taped a show for her birthday but that when she watched it back at her home in New York, “all of a sudden I paused it, and I was like ‘who is f--- is that?’” she recalled.

“You see it and you're like, ‘Well, she’s about to die of a heart attack,’" she added.

“It’s a weird thing. … I never saw that. I was never insecure about it. I was happy. People were like, 'Oh, she must not have been happy.' No, I was happy. I just did not see that,” she said. 

Clarkson recalled talking to her manager, who has known her for over 15 years, “and she was like, ‘I know, I’m kind of as shocked as you.’ And I think because your people are with you the whole time, so it’s gradual. You don’t even realize.”

Clarkson has previously been open about her health journey, revealing in January that she was diagnosed as pre-diabetic . She told People Magazine the same month that she dropped weight by focusing on what she ate and being more active. 

“I eat a healthy mix. I dropped weight because I’ve been listening to my doctor — a couple years I didn’t. And 90 percent of the time I’m really good at it because a protein diet is good for me anyway. I’m a Texas girl, so I like meat — sorry, vegetarians in the world!” she told the magazine, noting that “walking in the city is quite the workout.” 

Breaking News Reporter

How ‘Young Sheldon’ Finally Got to That Heartbreaking Moment: ‘Endings Are Always Really Difficult’

By Jim Halterman

Jim Halterman

• ‘Young Sheldon’ Stars Iain Armitage and Annie Potts on Jim Parsons’ Finale Return and the Show’s Surprise End: ‘We Were Completely Ambushed by This’ 3 weeks ago
• How ‘The Conners’ Went From Nearly DOA to a Milestone 100th Episode — and What’s Next: ‘There’s So Much More to Do’ 1 month ago
• ‘When We Rise’ EP Dustin Lance Black: ‘This Is Going to Be More Timely Than I Thought’ 7 years ago

SPOILER ALERT: The following interview discusses events from the “ Young Sheldon ” episode “A New Home and a Traditional Texas Torture,” streaming on Paramount+ as of May 10.

We knew it was going to happen — since it was foretold on “The Big Bang Theory” — but that didn’t make it any easier to say goodbye to one of “Young Sheldon’s” original cast members. In the final moments in the second of two episodes airing back-to-back on May 9, the Cooper family received word that curmudgeon patriarch George Cooper (Lance Barber) had died of a heart attack.

Popular on Variety

Here, Holland also shares how the writers figured out how (and when) to portray George’s death, how Barber took the news about his character dying and what other information from “The Big Bang Theory” needed to be honored.

You guys have done this before, when you wrapped up “The Big Bang Theory.”But how challenging was it to land all the points you wanted before the end of the series?  

Since you’ve been asked about it for the last seven years, planning George’s death, did you guys know this is how you wanted to play it? Or was it something you kept going back and forth on?

We always knew we were going to address it this season. We always knew we were going to get to the funeral this season. And we always knew that George’s death would happen off screen, that we didn’t want to witness it. It was just a question of when. There was a version of this, as we talked about it earlier on, where it would have been: The finale would have been the death and the funeral. I think it was Chuck [Lorre, executive producer] who said, “This is mostly a positive, uplifting show. Let’s not leave the audience deep in their grief. Let’s watch the family start to piece itself back together, and let’s end with a little hope.” So then that re-shifted when we were going to do it.

And then also, just because we know some people are expecting it, I know there’s a lot of talk of whether it’s going to happen or not going to happen, but people who know “Big Bang” are expecting it. We wanted to do it in a way that was hopefully a little surprising. So that’s why it happens at the end of [Episode 12] — we thought maybe we can catch people off guard. Even though they know it’s going to come, maybe they won’t see it coming then.

Touching on “Big Bang,” we’ve known that George died when Sheldon is 14, but were there other details from the show that you had to live up to?

It was pretty much just his age. And to be honest, even “Big Bang” canon isn’t entirely consistent. It got more consistent. We know it was 14 and we know that Sheldon goes to Caltech right afterwards and leaves Georgie and the rest of the family behind grieving. Those were the two pieces that we knew.

Was it a tough conversation to have with Lance Barber, since he knew this could be coming?

He’s known since the beginning of the show that George Sr. had an expiration date. We slowed time down a little bit. Like, we extended it because the kids, our actual cast members Raegan and Iain, are 16 in real life. We stretched one year out into a couple seasons to keep Lance alive as far as long as we could. But he always knew this was coming.

And I think also it being the last season made it a little easier on him that there wasn’t going to be seasons going forward that he wasn’t going to get to be a part of, but he was great because he really wanted to be there.

In Episode 12, George gets a college coaching job offer that would take him and the family to Houston. What did that story say for the character and the family?

Talk to me about the last time we and the family sees George alive. He’s just going to work like an ordinary morning without any grand moment. Why?

We really talked a lot about that. It was interesting how much work we put into a scene where nothing exciting happened, and we kept making sure that was the case. We thought a lot about the reality of the situation is that you don’t recognize that these are big moments going into them. You only recognize that these are big moments in retrospect. And dad leaving for work is a thing that happens every day. There was no reason for anyone to stop and think, you know, this moment is special. We also thought that moving forward it left them with a little bit more regret that they didn’t appreciate those moments, but it just really felt like that was very real.

We even pulled out where no one says goodbye to him. We kept pulling things away [from the scene] so no one had a moment. For Missy, he offers her a ride to school and she says she’ll take the bus. Sheldon doesn’t even look up. Mary’s on him about making sure he’s not going to be late later on. No one even says goodbye to him.

We see a few people come back in episode 712, like Sheldon’s childhood friend, Tam (Ryan Phuong) and we see a couple of the teachers at the school. Was there a lot of talk about who you would bring back?

Yeah, definitely. There were certainly some characters that we wanted to acknowledge because they’ve been such an important part of the show. It would have been great to bring back Jason Alexander [who played Sheldon’s teacher Gene Lundy in five episodes], who we love. Some things just didn’t work out logistically, and it didn’t make sense in the story. But Tam had been such a big part of the story, and with Sheldon’s friend — and also trying to keep alive “Big Bang” canon when Sheldon goes off to Caltech, and Tam stays behind with his girlfriend. So trying to make a nod that to Sheldon, they’re still best friends. And then Mr. Givens, and we love Brian Stepanek who plays him.

In the last scene of the episode when the family gets the news that George has died, of course, Missy, Mary and Connie just break down immediately. But was there a lot of discussion about how Sheldon would react? Or was that an easy choice given the character, and how he deals with emotion?

We knew that Sheldon would process things internally, that Sheldon is not an outward emotive person. So it was really just about the details like, is he standing and does he sit or is he already sitting? It was really fine tuning those small details to get the exact right moment for him. But no, the thought that he would not outwardly express his grief was always baked into the character.

Was it a challenge for Iain Armitage not to just unload his emotions because this big moment’s happening that they’ve all known was coming?

What should we expect in those final two episodes airing next Thursday?

You know, the Coopers have to deal with their grief over the death of George Sr. And Sheldon has to prepare to start his life journey onto Caltech in California.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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