There’s normally something which sticks in an audience’s mind after they have heard a presentation.
Hopefully, it will be the key message the presenter was hoping to get across.
But often these messages can be diluted by a range of damaging phrases which can almost instantly ruin a presentation or make it memorable for the wrong reasons.
Often these are phrases a presenter will revert to because they feel nervous or become uncomfortable.
Good presentation, messaging and impact training can help prevent a public speaker making these mistakes and give them the confidence to speak without reverting to these damaging phrases.
Here are the phrases we believe presenters must avoid:
‘You probably can’t read this’
Ah, the dreaded slide deck with so many words crammed on to each slide it actually resembles an eye test chart.
The key with slides is to remember that less is more – slides containing huge paragraphs of text will only serve to turn your audience off and distract them from what you are saying. Instead of text heavy slides, opt for ones which show the odd headline statistic or tag line which will support and underline your message.
This phrase is particularly damaging if it is followed by ‘let me read it for you’.
‘Let me read it for you’
Seamlessly we arrive at ‘let me read it for you’, which is in my view probably the worst phrase you can use in a presentation.
No-one in the audience has turned-up to hear you read aloud.
When a presenter falls into the trap of reading their slides it creates a perception that they are not particularly confident about the subject they are discussing.
It also can be seen as lazy and is certainly not engaging. It may be better for all concerned if you just hand out printed copies or send it as an email.
Avoiding putting lots of text on slides removes the temptation to simply read them.
Hello? Can everyone hear me?
When you are presenting, your audience will form an almost instant impression of you. And, although it sounds shallow, it is only when you look and sound like you know what you are talking about that they will pay attention to what you are saying.
Starting your presentation by tapping the microphone and asking whether people at the back can hear does not help to create an impression of someone who is going to communicate with confidence, cohesion and clarity.
Get to the venue early and test the equipment before anyone arrives so that when you arrive on the stage for real you can begin confidently knowing the audience can hear you.
‘I haven’t had a lot of time to prepare’
Your audience are investing their time in your presentation and they want to know that you have similarly invested in creating something which will be informative.
Starting by telling them you have had little time to prepare does not indicate you are taking the opportunity seriously and suggests they will not get much out of the presentation.
It also starts the presentation on an unnecessarily negative tone – you are effectively beginning your talk with an excuse, which is not very inspiring.
‘Excuse me if I seem nervous’
Few of us are natural speakers and even the more experienced presenters get nervous.
But the good news is nerves are seldom visible to an audience.
So there is no need to advertise your anxiety. Telling the audience you are nervous sounds like another excuse and does not create the strong opening impression most presenters are looking for.
‘I’ll keep it brief’
There are three problems with this saying. Firstly, it sounds uninspiring and unconfident. It also suggests a lack of preparation and thought has gone into the presentation.
The other issue is that it sets expectations that you are actually going to be brief and most presenters who I have heard use this phrase don’t stick to the promise. Instead of listening to what you are saying, the audience stares at their watches wondering when this ‘short’ presentation will ever end.
‘I’ve been asked to speak to you about’
As we said at the start of this blog, you have a limited amount of time to create the right impression, which means you need to start strongly.
Blandly announcing what you will be discussing – something they probably already know from reading the itinerary - is going to make it much harder for you to win the audience’s attention.
Instead, think of a question, story or powerful statistic which will grab attention and focus minds.
‘Bear with me’
This is usually said when the presenter frantically tries to solve something technical which has gone wrong – most often with the slides.
But rather than using this phrase, or start apologising, try to make light of the situation and keep the presentation moving before you lose the audience’s attention.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with over 30 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers.
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