3 common mistakes that are ruining your presentation

Speaking
Written By Liam Sandford

Are you destroying your chances of getting a successful outcome even before your presentation has started? There are too many myths out there that showcase poor practice or unhelpful advice that adds stress and weight to what delivering a presentation is actually like.

Maybe you have received well intentioned but unhelpful advice from friends and family or colleagues. Maybe you read about a technique that is meant for someone having spoken on stage for 20 years but is not applicable to someone with a fear of public speaking or little experience. There are a range of reasons you could have fallen into bad practice.

The good news is you can turn it around and 10X your chances of delivering successful presentations where you get the outcome you desire. Let’s dive into three common mistakes, and what you should be doing instead.

Mistake 1: 10/10/10 structure

Let’s say you have a half hour slot to present, a common method is to use the 10/10/10 structure. This means:

  • 10 minutes giving an agenda

  • 10 minutes delivering the main points

  • 10 minutes conclusion

This is incredibly boring. As a presenter you want people to be switched on when you are delivering your main points. You will not do this if you open with an agenda. With the 10/10/10 structure you are telling the audience for 10 minutes what you are going to tell them, telling them it, then telling them what you just told them — your presentation may just be 10 minutes! This is common in a corporate environment (even when the presentation is just 10 minutes in total), but you should break the mold.

What to do instead: Use the open, body, close structure where you:

  • Capture attention with your opening

  • Deliver your main points in the body

  • Close with a call to action

This is the nano speech in action and it is the only structure you will ever need for a presentation.

Mistake 2: Making PowerPoint your presentation, not you

Often when you prepare for your presentation you open a PowerPoint slide and start writing. Not only is a lot of text unhelpful, but that is for you, not the audience. You are creating something where you will have the tendency to read off the screen and not focus on the audience. You are making PowerPoint your whole presentation.

PowerPoint is not your presentation, you are. When your preparation focuses only on putting slides together you are making it all about PowerPoint and not about what you are going to say. PowerPoint is your support act and is there to help the audience understand what you are saying better — there is no other reason for it. You are the main event.

What to do instead: Create minimalist slides. Only have things on screen that are going to help the audience — this means only one key point per slide. If it does not add value to making your audience understand your key message it should not be on slide. During your preparation, for every key point you should think about:

  • How you will open

  • Your main point

  • A story linked to your main point

  • How you will close (call to action)

Mistake 3: Not having clear transitions

You will have sat through presentations where the speaker rambles on and on. They are longwinded in what they are saying, and this could be for three reasons:

  • They are unclear on what they are saying

  • They don’t know how to transition to the next point, or close the presentation

  • They like the sound of their own voice

All three reasons could be in play at once. The rambling here is the problem — if you have no clear plan, you might end up saying way too many words that you end up confusing the audience. That is the last thing anyone wants. Understanding how you are going to transition between key points is critical because it is the thread that runs through your whole presentation.

It is likely when you prepare you think about the main points you want to deliver, but not how you connect them together. If you get your transitions right you will help maintain audience attention.

What to do instead: Plan stories, analogies, or make a connecting reference between the two points. Be clear on how specifically you will move from one point to the next, and then how you will close with a call to action at the end. The best way to do this is to keep it simple — nobody in your audience needs complicated.

Actionable takeaways

  • Don’t use the 10/10/10 structure. Instead use the open, body, close structure to capture attention, deliver your main point and inspire your audience with a call to action.

  • Stop making everything about your slides. You are the main event, your slides are the support act. Design your slides so the presentation is only complete with your narrative around it.

  • Plan clear transitions between your main points. If you are unclear on this you will end up rambling or ruining your call to action at the end. Clarity on these will help you deliver, and ensure you land your message with the audience.

More from me

Liam Sandford
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Storytelling techniques that captivate your audience