The document offers critical advice for effective presentation skills, emphasizing the importance of engaging with the audience rather than relying on slides or reading from notes. It highlights common pitfalls such as facing the screen, using filler words, and poorly timed apologies. Overall, it advocates for confidence, preparation, and authenticity in delivering presentations.

1. STOP BREAKINGTHEBASIC OFRULESPRESENTING!With your angry Drill Sergeant @theREALwikiman

2. It’s so easy to avoid obvious mistakes when presenting. After all, the audience is on your side. So make it worth their while!

3. FACEFirst of all,THEFRONT!

4. For God’s sake, stop turning to face the big screen! You have a computer right in front of you – you know, the one you’re using to move your presentation materials along – so look at that instead, okay? That way people can actually HEAR you.

5. You’re reading it out, ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDINGME?!

6. Don’t even get me started on this. Written prose has different phraseology, different tones, different nuances, different EVERYTHING from stuff you say out loud. If you’re reading your presentation out, IT IS AWFUL.

7. AND STOPREADING OUTTHE SLIDESAS WELL.

8. Slides should support what you’re saying, not duplicate it – and they certainly shouldn’t be there to provide a surrogate for good content.

9. DID THAT SLIDE HAVESEVERALBULLET POINTS ON?

10. Oh by the wayOh by the way

11. The late nineties called.Oh by the way

12. The late nineties called.

13. THEY WANT THEIR SUCKY PRESENTATION BACK.Oh by the way

14. The late nineties called.

15. THEY WANT THEIR SUCKY PRESENTATION BACK.

16. Oh, and they said – don’t worry about recording that episode of Friends on your VHS player. Oh by the way

17. The late nineties called.

18. THEY WANT THEIR SUCKY PRESENTATION BACK.

19. Oh, and they said – don’t worry about recording that episode of Friends on your VHS player.

20. It’ll probably be repeated at some point. STOP USINGYOUR CO-PRESENTER AS ACRUTCH!

21. Co-presenters, you DO NOT NEED to look at each other for support and encouragement! If you’re up on stage, own the stage, and talk to your fricking audience.

22. FINISHYOUR THOUGHTS.

23. Either say something, or don’t. None of this “yeah so basically, again… yeah” rubbish. Have you even practiced this talk?

24. UM.STOP SAYING

25. Or ‘like’ or ‘sort of’ or ‘er’ – all you are doing is RUINING THE IMPACT OF YOUR WORDS. Have faith in what you’re saying.

26. STOPAPOLOGISING!

27. If the audience didn’t know there was supposed to be a video there but it didn’t play, why bore them with your superfluous apology? MOVE ON.

28. DID YOUJUSTWALK IN FRONTOF THEPROJECTOR?

29. Seriously?

30. I LITERALLYCANNOT BELIEVE YOU JUST WENTOVERYOUR TIME LIMIT...

31. The arrogance! The conceit! The ill-preparedness! The disrespect to the event and to the other presenters! Either make a presentation you can deliver within the allotted time, or say no to the invitation to speak...

32. Okay, that’s it. Good luck with your presentations!

33. Click to view the background image (by Nasos3) on FlickrPRESENTATION BY NED POTTER CLICK FOR MORE STUFF AT THEWIKIMAN.ORGNed Potter, aka thewikiman, is a writer (if he ever finishes his book), a speaker (there are no guarantees he will obey all the rules in this presentation, but he will at least try) and above all, A LIBRARIAN.