What are the worst 'crimes' you've seen in technical presentations?
IT and technical presentations are so often boring, confusing or irrelevant whereas they should be interesting clear and radically relevant.
What do you see presenters do that you wish they wouldn't...?
Think about slides, voice, pace, sequence, level of detail...
Thanks!
Good Answers (16)
I hate it when presenters...
...stop to read the screen when they change slide
...always keep the same (boring) tone
...stand still like a statue
...use endless bullet lists
...look at the screen all the time
...don't interact with the audience (and don't react to the audience)
but, most of all, I hate it when the presenter doesn't know what he's talking about
David M.
Business consultant
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It is always interesting to see an expert make a presentation to other experts. The percentage of jargon as against lay English rises sharply and, because there is no need for the expert to explain basic propositions, presentations can be next to incomprehensible to the non-expert. Such presentations tend to be short, to the point and leave plenty of time for peer discussion. But experts tend to be very bad in making presentations to non-experts because they have no idea to take their own knowledge and translate it into accessible bites. The best people to make presentations to non-experts are those who have struggled to achieve some competence. They know where all the hard-to-understand bits are buried and how to present them in simple ways. If in doubt, never ask an expert to make a presentation to non-expert people and always hide the slide show, powerpoint presentations and other technological gizmos. A simple series of spoken points, followed by question and answer sessions does the job.
Anne-Christine G.
Production and Development Management
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Not understanding the audience they are presenting to. Even if they get everything else right, not speaking the right language, or highlighting the right points, will ruin the entire presentation.
Alex V.
Professional Project Manager and Trainer specialising in CRM
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The worst erm crime erm.... in my erm opinion erm is the erm constant erm use of the erm word erm whilst presenting erm.
There are so many great presentation skills courses available that there is ERM no excuse!
Ramesh K.
CTO & Human Search Engine
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Many technical guys go overboard to talk too much of Jargon. Probably, it is to impress people. But many may not understand the jorgon and the entire presentation does not make a sense.
Also many people show the presentaiton and read every word of it and do not offer any explaination.
The presentation with only text, text and text and without case studies/ screen shots etc does make the presentaion makes it dull.
Presentation is an art. You may need to add some humor sometimes to make it livelier.
Ramesh
The Human Search Engine
Stuart B.
Project Manager at Ministry of Social Development
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For me it would have to be:
- pitching the presentation at the wrong level for the audience, especially when there is too much technical content for the non techo. Try and keep it clear and simple!
- lack of preparation (the slapped together in one hour presentation)
- allowing the presentation to needlessly drag on
- losing the purpose of the presentation usually due to poor prep
Terry W.
Enterprise Architect at Rolling Bay
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Keep the presentation short, sweet, to the point. And, don't read the slides - talk about what the slide is showing and fill in the gaps - i.e. talk about what idea you are trying to convey with that slide.
-one key point per slide
-bullet points should be supporting FACTS or assumptions
-keep in mind teaching principles (this is what I'm going to tell you, this is the point I'm making, this is all I've told you..)
- make sure you know the audience and target the material to the audience. It doesn't hurt to state your assumptions about what level the presentation is geared for at the beginning
- allow adequate time at end for follow up and questions and answers
- always address next steps
Just a few thoughts...
Mark B.
Founder: Our Web Department, Technology Consultant, Web Developer, Web Inventor, Aspiring Writer
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* Too much time spent on slide
* Text unreadable (dropshadow, odd colors applied, really bad font)
* Using every single wipe and transition
* Images inserted poorly (low res, poorly clipped, visible off color background)
* Rushing presentation due to nervousness
* No time allowed for questions
* Printing a 100 page slide list as a hand out with no notes
* Using humor in place of knowledge/personality/understanding of subject matter
I really don't like to be read to. Jargon is also a turn-off. I think presenters should offer some humor and mix in some real life stories rather than just the technical details of the topic. I also think presentations should be interactive. Lastly, I saw a presentation a week ago where I counted 63 "you know"s in 5 minutes....ugh!
Jack P.
Experienced leader.
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Dear Andrew,
One thing I still remember as if it where yesterday (so it must be a worst still after all these years) is a developer presenting new electrical drawings software to an audience, and stopping the presentation for a whole minute, to write down the error code generated on the screen at that time, in full view of the audience.
He was surprised we mentioned this behaviour to him, he never got a chance to present again.
Are you writing a book on how not to ... ?
Regards.
Josh C.
Director of Operations at Web Industries, and Decent Little League Coach
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Hi Andrew,
The worst thing is when the presenter isn't even enthusiastic about their own presentation.
Josh.
I hate it when presenters...
...stop to read the screen
...dont even discuss what is on the slide
...dont engage the audience ( involve them )
...to many quotes
...lies
Andy C.
CEO and Chairman, International Alliance of Guardian Angels NZ Charitable Trust
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The worst crime is to have a technician who has not been trained in presentation skills do the presentation.
If the presentation is of a technical nature and it is important to have a technician do the presentation because he needs to communicate technical concepts to laymen and answer their technical questions in a way that they will understand then it is important enough to ensure your technician is trained in delivering presentations properly.
Some of the personal bug bears I have about presentations by technical experts include these two :-
- click to slide of excel spreadsheet/technical diagram and say "I know you can't see much here because it's so detailed.... but this is the bit I'm referring to" - points to small corner of slide ..... grrrr ??!
- Those who use the presentation they put together for their colleagues for a presentation to non experts and say out loud "You won't understand most of this because it was put together for (<insert technical expertise>) professionals" - why present it to us then? Duh!!
Most of my additional thoughts are covered by other posts in this thread and I wait with baited breath for the expert who masters the art of communicating with the rest of the world.
