Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Sucks

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  1

  slaughery

  09/09/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  I think you covered them all pretty well. Did leave out the big one. You didnt know the material and read from the screen.

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  2

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  09/09/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Re Note 1:
  OMG. You're totally right. Darn. Now I'll have to change the post.

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  3

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  09/09/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Re Note 1 again.
  
  Fixed. Wow, how could I have missed that one?? Too obvious, maybe.
  
  Although, now that I think of it, I tend to think of presentations as sales presentations and sales reps who read from their slides don't usually survive in sales more than a week or so.

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  4

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  09/09/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Email from a reader: Re: Typos in your otherwise great BNET article. Reason #7 in "Your Presentation Stinks" is full of typos. I found this very distracting and in conflict with your expertise, so I thought I'd send you this message.
  
  Unfortunately, Sales Machine is a blog, which means no editor to correct my typos. Maybe I should do a new post entitled "Why my blog posts stink!"
  
  At least, with the posts (unlike the comments) I can go back and correct the typos (which I just did).
  

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  5

  A to Z Printing

  09/09/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  I also found the typos distracting. It was a interesting read and agree with them. Personally I would just have a few in a different order. Otherwise a great post.

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  6

  dellacarlynarden

  09/09/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Your recommendation of Ariel as a preferred typeface is a classic example of Reason #5: All opinion, no facts. The book "Type & Layout: Are you communicating or just making pretty shapes" by Colin Wheildon provides definitive guidelines--thoroughly researched and scientifically proven--that demonstrate a much higher comprehension rate for serif typefaces (e.g., Times New Roman or Garamond) than for a sans serif type like Ariel.

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  7

  peter@...

  09/09/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Reason Number 7
  Typos - Arial and UPPERCASE - How to fix it: Use large fonts in simple faces (like Ariel); avoid boldface, italics and UPPERFACE.
  I know, we're a tough audience.

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  8

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  09/09/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Re Note 6:
  I'll send your comment along to Kosslyn, the Harvard prof who's my source and see what he says. It's my understanding that he did cognitive studies on most of this. Frankly, I like to put my presentations in Italic Klingon-B.

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  9

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  09/09/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Re Note 7:
  Fixed. Thanks.

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  10

  DrBruin

  09/09/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  The research I've seen indicates that serif fonts (e.g., Times Roman, Century Schoolbook) are easier to read on paper, but that sans serif fonts (Arial, Helvetica) are easier to read on a screen, including when projected. The problem stems from the pixillation on a screen, which makes the image blurrier than ink on paper. But let's let Wheildon and Kosslyn duke it out and get back to us.

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  11

  tdrush

  09/09/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  I love the post. However, when you structure your post this way, it's tough to print out and share with a class or professional group. Can you please fix that?

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  12

  tdrush

  09/09/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  And by the way, yes I do credit you and promote your blog when I share something with a group.

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  13

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  09/09/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Re Note 11:
  My profound apologies. As everyone who reads this blog knows, my true goal in life is to make it easier for you to steal my content and put it into your presentations.
  
  What was I thinking by asking you to do cut-and-paste ten times! Please send me the bill from your chiropractor after he fixes your poor, sore index finger.

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  14

  tdrush

  09/10/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Wow Geoffrey, you just lost a reader and a fan. Thanks for the smart aleck response. You won't have to worry about me "stealing." How does one steal when they give you full credit and encourage people to read your blog. Again, you don't have to worry about me promoting you any more jerk.

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  15

  abdullahali

  09/10/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Thank you for your great job
  
  Abdullah
  Saudi Arabia

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  16

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  09/10/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Re Note 14:
  Sorry, man. Having a bad day. Bad thing with non-editable comments.
  
  My blog writing gets copied, verbatim, all over the place and on multiple sites. People do this, I suspect, with the assumption that I'm a consultant who sells sailes training, so that they're creating publicity for me. But that's not my business model.
  
  I write for a living, so when people take my material and incorporate it into their own publications and presentations, there's limited value to it for me. While your presentation might "give me credit" -- that credit is worth very little to me. It might drive some traffic, but there's that value isn't proportional to the value of the content. Not even close.
  
  So when you go beyond the "fair use" rule and incorporate my material into your material, you're stealing my content because you are not paying me. It's really that simple. And though I should be nice about it, sometimes it annoys me, which is why I responded like I did.

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  17

  Airlinologist

  09/11/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  You (like all of us) have the right to protect your material from unfair/ illegal copying.

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  18

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  09/11/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Re: Note 17:
  BNET asks me to submit reprint requests to the editors, who deal with them. My understanding is that they've been quite gracious and generous in allowing use.
  
  However, when somebody starts asking me to reformat my material for his convenience in "borrowing" it, that's just a little bit much, don't you think? To be fair, there's so much "borrowing" of copyrighted content on the web that the guy probably didn't even realize that he was doing it, hence his self-righteous reply.
  
  Unfortunately, the Internet is creating a culture where people think that all content should be free, without realizing the top content costs money to produce, and that therefore people expect to get paid, in not with subscriptions, then with advertising.

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  19

  tdrush

  09/11/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  RE: 17 and 18... I was not and do not "steal." I teach Marketing Students and try to give them resources to get better. That is why I email them links to your blogs and your articles. I never take it as "my stuff." The bottom line is I am or was promoting YOU. I understand fair use and piracy and stealing. How is it stealing if you are pushing people to your blog or website to read more content? The more eyes that hit your website, the more they are exposed to your advertisers and you make money.
  
  If I was passing off your content as my own, that's stealing. Recommending your blog to people and telling them about your content is promotion.
  
  I understand you've been burned before and I'm sorry. I just try to connect my students with good sources. I don't think I've taken any money out of your pocket. If anything, I hope I've added more money to your pocket.
  
  tr

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  20

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  09/11/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Re Note 19:
  If I was passing off your content as my own, that's stealing. Recommending your blog to people and telling them about your content is promotion.
  
  You're confusing copyright infringement with plagiarism. Two different animals entirely.
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_infringement
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism
  
  The overall mistake that you're making is that you are taking it on yourself to decide that your use of my content is worth the traffic that said use would drive to my site. That's not your decision to make. The right that you DO have is "fair use", which allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, such as use for scholarship or review.
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use
  
  The key word here is "limited". That means that you can't copy the entire thing, which is what you were asking me to make it easier for you to do.
  
  To net it out, you can use small excerpts without asking, but cutting and pasting large portions -- even with the best of intentions and even with my name and links still on it -- is not permitted under copyright law.
  
  In other words, rather than asking me to "fix" my post to make it easier to steal, you should have asked me (or more precisely BNET) if it was OK if you used my material in your class.

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  21

  Airlinologist

  09/11/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  I can simply say that the author has the full right to protect his brainchildren.
  On the other hand, the marketing teacher might be having good intentions for using the articles inside his class.
  Having said so, the case has to be ENTIRELY up to the copyright holder to decide whether or not he is interested to grant more of his works for free.
  

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  22

  LittleFish 7

  09/11/09 | Report as spam

  RE: #9: Use the minimum visuals that you need to tell the story

  While I agree that one shouldn't use tacky visuals (NEVER use clipart! Cheesy!), less text and more professional photos are usually a good idea (if they support the context of the slide). Move your text to the notes pane and use as a script of sorts.
  
  Be sure photos are professional and simple composition, though, and high enough resolution to project without pixilating. Stock photography is finally affordable, so no excuses for stealing images from the web (they're usually too small to project anyway).
  
  I once knew a man who put a picture of his daughter in every presentation, whether it jibed w/the message or not. Message is cutting costs w/a picture of a kid w/chocolate ice cream all over its face. Hmmmm. Save it for the family reunion.

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  23

  michaeld1059

  09/15/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Very useful post. The last major reason your presentation stinks is "you didn't open with a statistic." My group did use one (as you suggested in an earlier post) and it was a major success - literally stopped the audience in their tracks, and was the first thing one attendee mentioned at breakfast the next morning. Thanks for your advice.

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  24

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  09/15/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Re Note 23:
  Hey, could you repost that comment in the "Opening Move Thread"?
  
  And, you're welcome.

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  25

  sagarnmehta

  09/15/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Its been useful reading everything here. Your literature and the issue with a blogger.
  I think 'tdrush' should have been well informed in regard to copy right things being in a teaching profession. And because of that lack of knowledge, he thought Geoffrey should feel gratitude. Lolz...
  And Geoffrey seemed quite annoyed when someone politely asked for something. Here people might even do 10 times copy-paste and may not even write your name.
  You could have made your point clear about the copy right and all, but not this way. And it seemed whining later on.
  
  And by the way, I think what another point you may add to literature is:
  At times, people skip slides in front of people with/without coming back.
  That shows person was not well prepared or want to hide something.
  
  Peace guys, it's always good to see good people fighting for good.

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  26

  Jeffp77

  09/30/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Wow Geoffrey. I had no idea that I was hurting your business model just like tdrush was. I too will no longer pass on your advice to my sales team, and will stop encouraging them to visit your blog. Thanks for clarifying (although you do seem to be quite the whiner to people that promote you and your work).

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  27

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  09/30/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Re Note 26:
  Copying entire blog posts and handing them out to people is not "promoting." It's "stealing." It's quite different from pointing somebody at the blog or using some of the material in it. As for your sales team, they have my sympathies, because they obviously work for a person who has major ethical challenges.

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  28

  Jeffp77

  09/30/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Thanks, but my sales team does not need your sympathies. I said "pass on your advice", and "encourage them to visit your blog". You are the king of misinterpretation.
  
  

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  29

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  09/30/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Re Note 28:
  You need to read the comments I was reacting to. The guy was LIFTING MY STUFF AND REPUBLISHING IT. I objected. You piled in on his side.

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  30

  Jeffp77

  09/30/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  And YOU need to read the comment I was referring to. "If I was passing off your content as my own, that's stealing. Recommending your blog to people and telling them about your content is promotion."
  
  I clearly stated in my post that what I was doing was encouraging the team to visit your blog. If you consider that being "piled on his side", then so be it.

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  31

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  09/30/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Re Note 30:
  Quote: "If I was passing off your content as my own, that's stealing.
  
  You are incorrect. What you have described is called plagiarism. Copying material without paying to do so (beyond "fair use") is copyright infringement. They're both forms of stealing.

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  32

  Jeffp77

  09/30/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  OK. Apparently I have to get really granular with you because now you are changing the subject, as that was not MY statement (or MY description).
  
  The part I was referring to was "Recommending your blog to people and telling them about your content is promotion."
  
  I don't know how to be any more clear than that.

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  33

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  09/30/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Re Note 32:
  Quote from your earlier comment: I had no idea that I was hurting your business model just like tdrush was.
  
  Quote from tdrush: when you structure your post this way, it's tough to print out and share with a class or professional group.
  
  Printing out copyrighted material from a website and using in a commercial enterprise without permission, in amounts larger than what's covered by the "fair use" provision, is copyright infringement. It is not "recommending." It is not "promoting." It is stealing.
  
  By the way, I'm perfectly aware that there's a 90 percent chance that either you or tdrush is a sock puppet. You both write and think exactly the same way.

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  34

  Jeffp77

  10/01/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  You are a petty, petty man. I feel sorry for you. At no time did I say that I copied your material. Do not confuse me with tdrush. I do NOT think it is OK to copy and distribute someones work without their permission.
  
  When I said "I had no idea that I was hurting your business model just like tdrush was." I was referring to his statement "Recommending your blog to people and telling them about your content is promotion." as I stated before.
  
  Please try to think before you post.
  

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  35

  kumvjn

  10/06/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Hi
  
  Your have listed out all the reasons.
  
  I think you can add few more.
  
  Bringing in other person?s presentations and presenting the same. These types of things will happen normally with big companies, where presentation is prepared at some distant location and sent to the guys for presenting them. The guys who receive the same try to present the same without much of the preparation. Probably they will not be able to prepare for ever because, they cannot meet or talk to the person who prepared the presentation.
  
  Too much of information put into a slide. When these types of slides are presented, normally presenter tries to quickly pass through the same where as audience is more interested about the same. When audience asks more questions on these things, presenter will not be having any answers.
  
  Too less preparation or trying to present on behalf of some other person.
  
  Presenting without understanding the client profile and their knowledge. Many times under estimating the clients.
  
  Disjointed presentation. This one happens in case of too lengthy presentations. In between the story changes the track and goes elsewhere.
  
  Trying to talk too much about the company in the beginning by putting various slides (some time around 15-20) which takes good amount of time. Finally less time is left to tell the story.
  
  
  Thanks
  Kumar
  
  
  

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  36

  taruna009

  10/15/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Whats new thing writer posted???

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  37

  Jim Harpst

  10/21/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  #11
  Presenting a slide that's complex and you can't explain it.

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  38

  Geoffrey James, Sales Machine

  10/21/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Re Note 11:
  Good one! And common...
  
  Advice on this one is fall back and punt. Say something like "I put this slide in to impress you, but I haven't the slightest idea what it means."

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  39

  Jim Harpst

  10/22/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  Geoffrey,
  Good advice and I agree but that's why the Presentation Stinks. Better move is; Don't put anything in a presentation you can't sell. Better yet; Why don't you know how to sell this slide? Are you really prepared for this sales call?

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  40

  j01150126

  10/22/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Stinks

  1. Too many words...not enough pictures...a picture speaks a thousand words...
  
  2. The temperment of the water that I get from CEOs is they are powerpointed to DEATH. Switch up and give out old style hard copies in color, especially if the crowd is over 50.
  
  3. You didn't prep the room, or book it 15 minutes prior to the meeting. People are just leaving your crowd is coming in and you have no prep time, and darn someone forgot to replace the batteries in wireless key board...worse yet they changed the settings on the projector and you can't get the projector to work correctly off your laptop (darn you brought a mac and its not compatible with the projector LOL)...everyone is seated and waiting while you are fiddling with wires, batteries or your laptop like an idiot, trying to blame the technology. People think you are unprepared, and you are...

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  41

  Medialifer

  11/13/09 | Report as spam

  Joining the pile on

  Re #29-34:
  
  Geoffrey, what's up with you, big guy? No one reads your
  blog to go through the "ping pong" of you arguing with your
  readers. This is not a blog about your personal feelings. If
  the risks of publishing on the WWW are too much for you,
  stop doing it. Otherwise, for heaven's sake, just stop
  because I am pretty sure you're turning A LOT of people off
  with this craziness.