The Speakers Friend Ltd © 2010 All rights reserved. Designed by Beyond Computers
The Speaker’s Friend © 2010 All rights reserved. Design by Beyond Computers
Examples of a presentation crime
In simple terms a presentation crime occurs when any speaker or presenter causes suffering to his/her audience.
There are many ways that this is done and often several crimes are committed at the same time. Examples include:
1. Badly or inappropriately dressed
2. Being vague or pointless
3. Clear lack of preparation
4. Death by PowerPoint
5. Excessive gestures or movement
6. Excessive repetition of points, words, phrases or gestures
7. Failing to make the subject accessible to the audience
8. Failure to use the technology effectively
9. Humiliation of audience member(s)
10. Inappropriate use of visual aids and handouts
11. Insufficient gesture or movement
12. Lacking enthusiasm, conviction or passion
13. Mumbling or not speaking clearly
14. No clear structure
15. Not dealing with the subject
16. Not engaging with the audience; not making eye contact or responding to the mood of the audience
17. Off message
18. Overly defensive or aggressive
19. Overly nervous
20. Patronising the audience
21. Poor opening
22. Reading from a script
23. Speaking for far too long
24. Speaking monotonously
25. Speaking to the screen, the walls, the clock or anything but the audience
26. Taking questions from the audience but not answering them
27. Too fast or too slow
28. Too loud or too quiet
29. Using inappropriate language or humour
30. Using too much jargon or too many abbreviations
31. Weak close