The 5 most irritating things that good presenters do but great presenters don’t
We all have good and bad days as presenters. I think that complacency is a performer’s most dangerous (legal) habit. In pondering the kinds of thinking and approaches that hurt even highly skilled speakers I came up with this.
The 5 most irritating things that good presenters do, but great presenters don’t are:
1. Think that they can get away with ‘winging it’. Great presenters know that the shortcut will always show.
2. Ignore the people in the seats until the presentation starts. Great presenters honour, respect and connect with their audience as soon as they can.
3. Assume that the audience knows and/or cares who they are. Great presenters know that they have to earn their status every time they stand up to speak.
4. Ask people to save their questions until the end. Great presenters are keen to understand how the audience thinks and feels.
5. Ask questions of the audience that they know the answers to already. Great presenters are flexible enough to listen and bend.
NB. The question came to me when I started thinking, honestly, about my own performance highs and lows – Physician heal thyself! What have I missed?