In branding, the way you communicate your business matters a lot. One of the ways to communicate your business is by doing business presentations. It is important that you avoid mistakes that can put your brand in jeopardy.
Many people make mistakes when doing business presentations. This is common as we are not perfect human beings. However, we can minimize the level of the mistakes we make when doing business presentations.
Image by Patrick Robert Doyle @teapowered
Here are some of the most common business presentation mistakes
- No or Not Enough Research. Planning and research make the difference between a great business presentation and a bad one.
- Not Enough Practice. Too many business professionals are tempted to skip the practice because they’re too busy. Don’t make this mistake.
- Reading your Presentation Notes or your Flash cards.Reading a presentation leads to an unnatural speaking style and interferes with your audience rapport.
- Spending too Much Time. Going over your assigned time talking about things not really related to your core message is annoying for your audience.
- Not Making Eye Contact. Speakers who make regular eye contact with audience members are perceived as being more trustworthy.
- Wrong Body Language. Research shows that over half of your message is conveyed through non-verbal communication.
- Lack of Conviction. When it comes to credibility, sincerity and conviction are important.
- Wrong Presentation Design. Your presentation should appear polished and professional. You don’t want your audience spending so much time focusing on how awful, cluttered, or sloppy your presentation looks that they don’t hear what you’ve got to say.
- Inadequate Visuals. After three days, most listeners only retain about 10% of what they’ve heard. However, when a visual is added, the percentage of information retained increases dramatically—to 65%.
- Too Much Text on a Slide. Your audience isn’t going to read (or remember) long blocks of text. So, keep it brief.
- Using too Small or too Big Font Sizes. Heading and body text of less than a 24-point font size for a business presentation is too small to read. Also, a body text that is more than 32-point font size is too big for a business presentation.
- Difficult to Read Font Styles. Avoid using script and novelty fonts at all costs as they are extremely hard to read. It is advisable to use fonts such as Arial, Tahoma, Veranda, Gill Sans, Helvetica or Open Sans
- Too Many Bullet points or Lists. Use lists sparingly. Shorten lists or create a single slide for each list item. Better yet, use a graphic to explain a presentation idea instead of words.
- Unexpected Technical Problems. The best time to find out that your equipment isn’t working isn’t the day of the presentation. You won’t have adequate time to make alternate arrangements. Therefore, it is wise to test all the equipment a day before your presentation and arrange for backups where necessary.
- Not Connecting with Your Audience. You can’t engage your audience or hold their attention if you don’t really know who you’re going to be speaking to.
- Wrong Presentation Content. This includes content that isn’t right for a presentation. The topic may be too broad to cover in the time that’s allowed, or your audience may not have the background needed to understand the topic. Also, you may be using terms your audience doesn’t understand.
- Not Connecting your Audience with the Next Step to Take. Communicate the next step you want your audience to take after your presentation. Remember, presentations will result in nothing if your audience does not take necessary action
These mistakes should be avoided entirely. Ensuring these improve your image and your business’.
