10 things you should never say when making a presentation

10 things you should never say when making a presentation10 things you should never say when making a presentationMaking a presentation at work can be scary. Some of us fear public speaking mora than death. However, like many things in life, giving presentations gets easier with practice and after more experience.I work in consulting, which means I spend a lot of my time giving - and listening to - presentations. In my role, I give presentations to client CEOs, executive teams, boards, large (and small) groups of company employees, and of course my own team, peers, and leadership. I also spend time helping others present their ideas, providing coaching and guidance on content, message, and supporting materials.Having the content prepared is foundational, but great slides and messaging can be ruined by a poor presentation. Similarly, I have seen executives with average content succeed because they deliver such a powerful presentation that the audience walks away convinced and impres sed.There are many elements to a great presentation, but being effective means avoiding missteps. Ive compiled ten things you should never do when making a presentation. To be clear - this is leid an effort to police tone, but to strengthen our ability to get our message across and build professional credibility.1. Dont say, I think, when a more powerful statement can workYour views are valid and youre entitled to an opinion. However, there are more powerful ways to state your view, including in my assessment, my experience suggests, and from what Ive observed. This tiny rephrase will ground your subsequent observation in something more firm than a passing thought.If you have data or facts, using I think can further undercut your point. Using the data indicate, or as the data illustrates, provides an even stronger introduction to your point. Sometimes you have to analyze data or come to a conclusion using many points of data that may elend be completely clear. In those instanc es, share your teams assumptions and conclusions not just what you think.2. Dont say, I dont know. It happens to all of us at some pointYoure giving a presentation you are asked a question that you do not know the answer to. You might not know, and you should never, ever give a fact or data point that youre unsure of.Instead of I dont know, which does not show any action or resolution, and highlights what youre missing (the answer) instead of instilling confidence, you can rephrase. If youre asked for a piece of data you dont have, you can respond, I can get that data, or, the team can explore that question and get you an answer following this meeting.If youre asked a question that you may need more time to ponder, it is fair to say, Id like more time to think about that instead of giving you an off-the-cuff answer, and indicate how you will follow-up.Sometimes, youre asked a question that you dont know the answer to, but have enough information or observation to make an educated g uess. In that case, provide your response with confidence, referencing your experience Based on similar situations, Id estimate that This is a tricky one to navigate, as some professionals struggle with wanting to be perfect and knowing every detail. If youre presenting, you should be well-prepared, but eventually you will get a question you simply do not know the answer to. Part of your preparation should include brainstorming for difficult questions and considering how you respond to any questions you may not know the answer to, based on your audience and the goals of the presentation.3. Never share something that isnt true and accurateThis sounds incredibly obvious. It is one of the things many of us learn in childhood tell the truth, and dont lie. However, in the heat (and stress) of a big presentation, it can be tempting to answer a question with a guess, or make a few leaps of logic here or there.Dont. If you arent certain about the validity of a point, sharing it could have massive consequences. This occasionally appears when more senior executives are presenting, and they havent reviewed the materials that theyre presenting. An old data point, or simple mistake that hasnt been caught, can be shared as fact. Without ill intent, that can have negative repercussions on the organization.Similarly, it can be tempting to avoid or downplay bad news. Ive learned that bad news is best delivered early and with a plan for resolution. Saying with full confidence that the team will absolutely hit next months milestone and then reporting two days before said deadline that you need an extension is one relatively common example. Your judgement and integrity is on the line when youre presenting, and if youre unsure of the validity of a point, it puts your reputation at risk if you deliver it to the audience.4. Like, um, and other verbal crutches.Nearly all of us fall prey to using different verbal crutches filler words and phrases that include like, um, aah, you kno w, and so.If youve ever listened to a speaker that has these verbal crutches, youve likely gotten so distracted that youre counting the likes instead of listening to the message.Preparation, recording, and feedback are the best ways to banish these from your vocabulary. When youve prepared well, youll feel more confident during your presentation. Stress and anxiety can trigger verbal crutches, while knowing your content thoroughly and taking some calming, deep breaths before you go on stage can reduce your nerves.Listening to yourself is one of the best ways to catch your verbal crutches. It is incredibly common to dislike the sound of your own voice but get over it, because poor presentation skills and verbal crutches are credibility killers When you listen to yourself, pay attention to what your verbal crutches might be, and commit to working them out of your daily use (even with friends and family).This is where having a trusted peer or thoughtful manager can come in. Let them k now youre working on improving your presentation skills, and you want to remove a specific verbal crutch or two from your vocabulary. Ask them to notify you when youre using it in meetings (usually after the meeting, though there may be a discreet way to do so during the session), and offer to help them with any skills they are working on honing.If you catch yourself relying on your verbal crutch, dont freak out. Just pause. A beat of silence while you take a sip of water and quickly glance at your notes feels natural to the audience and gives you a chance to regroup.5. Dont ask, Do you have any questions?Taking questions from the audience is great, but this is a poorly phrased question that doesnt engage your audience. Instead, I suggest making a few adjustments to ensure youre capturing feedback from your audience more actively.First, let them know how youll handle questions you may prefer that they are peppered throughout, or there may be notecards youve provided for them to write questions on for follow-up, or perhaps youve reserved time at the end to take any questions.Your audience will likely follow your lead, so let them know when youd prefer to take their questions. In a large group, audience members will often feel less comfortable asking questions throughout. In smaller groups, it may feel too formal to ask them to hold their questions to the end. Determine what will fit your audiences needs.Next, prepare the questions youll ask to engage your audience. If you have a section of the presentation that might confuse the audience, you may ask a question like, I often get questions on the details behind this chart, and how the factor analyses actually work raise your hand if providing that detail would be helpful, and Ill spend a few minutes on that.Sometimes, presenters ask the audience for questions when they are really trying to spark discussion or audience participation. If that is the case, then craft a purposeful, open-ended, and inclusive qu estion. For example, if youre presenting to managers about the importance of investing in employee development, you may ask, Who in the room has helped an employee grow their skills recently? Would you share the approach you used? A question like that allows the audience to share their own ideas and experiences, to add richness to the discussion.Finally, if youve finished your presentation, and you are curious if there are additional questions from your audience, you can say, If there are any questions, Id be happy to take them now. Give the audience some time to engage. People can be shy about speaking up in large groups. If you dont get a question, conclude with how they can reach you for any follow-up, thanking them for their time, and reminding them of any key points or actions. This is a more powerful closing than asking whether they have any questions which can feel like a mini-failure if they dont and concluding your session on an awkward note.6. Dont hoard the credit or e ven worse, take credit where you shouldnt. When youre presenting on behalf of a team, it is critical to recognize your contributorsYour presentation doesnt need to sound like a long list of thank yous at an awards show, but it is important to acknowledge the wider team. This is yet another tightrope to balance as the presenter, you have to authoritatively acknowledge your position however, it may dorfwiese your colleagues if youre inadvertently stealing credit in how you present.I recommend acknowledging the wider team at the beginning and end of the presentation, and highlighting any particularly strong contributions throughout. For example, when starting the presentation, you might say something like, Im thrilled to present the work on behalf of our department youll see the eight other team members that contributed to this project represented on the opening slide.If your colleague Fatima went out of her way, acknowledge that during your presentation. You can say, This finding i n the data is particularly compelling, and it was Fatimas idea to pursue this line of questioning through regression analysis. This demonstrates your comfort as a leader (you dont need to hog the spotlight) and gives your colleagues a chance to shine a win-win.7. Yes, we can do that by tomorrow, when youre not sure you canPromising something you cant deliver on is a fantastic way to undercut your credibility with peers and executives. It can be tempting to have an answer to every single question youre asked, but if a commitment is requested, and youre unsure, it is usually possible to buy yourself some time.You can defer, saying, Tomorrow is a rapid turnaround I will confirm with the team after this presentation and let you know what deadline you can expect by noon today. Further, in some situations it may be wise to take a moment to understand the driver behind the question, asking a clarifying question, like Before I work on next steps, it is helpful to understand why receiving the follow-up by tomorrow so critical does this information impact another project or deadline? Often, audience members may ask for things or details faster than really needed.8. Im rambling a little, or I just rambled off there, but if you got lost in the flow of your presentation, dont tell the audienceSome of them may have noticed, and for those who didnt, you just undercut your credibility. Practicing your presentation beforehand can help prevent rambling (ideally with a colleague, trusted friend, or by recording yourself and playing it back).However, if you catch yourself rambling, end your sentence, take a breath to gather your thoughts, and get back on track.9. Let me tell you a funny story This phrase has two issues let me and funny story. First, let meAs the presenter, your audience is listening to you by default (until you give them reason to tune out). Asking their permission with a weak phrase like let me is unnecessary.Next, funny story. In presentations, storie s are fantastic. Data suggests they are remembered up to 22 times more than facts alone, so including them in your presentation is a powerful technique. Humor can also be a useful technique, when used appropriately, to connect with your audience. However, theres little value in forewarning your audience that youre going to be funny because if they dont laugh, you just bombed. Deploy your humor naturally and appropriately, and if you get laughs, thats a bonus.10. Dont say, Im Sorry. Women tend to apologize more than men, and this also happens in presentationsWhen youre presenting, you rarely (if ever) need to apologize, so fight that instinct. Even in disastrous presentation situations and Ive been in a few, you can extract yourself without saying sorry.Taking you a few moments to get set up? No need to apologize let the audience know youll be starting in 5 minutes, and youre looking forward to sharing your findings with them.Projector light bulb broken, rendering it useless? Ackn owledge the issue, and if possible continue the presentation using your notes and handouts, or re-schedule the meeting to make the best use of the audiences time if the projection of slides is critical to the session.Audio terrible, so the room cant hear you? Move to the center of the room and raise your voice, grab a handheld microphone, or call an audible for a 10-minute break so the audio-visual staff can come up with a quick fix.Spend more time than you planned on that complex point, so you wont get to all your slides? Hit the key points you need to and end on time, because there are few sins an audience is less forgiving about than running late Usually, they dont know (or care) how many slides you have.Spill all over yourself right before you walk up on stage (or, even better, on stage)? Yup, it happens acknowledge it, make a joke, and keep going. Your audience usually wants you to succeed this hiccup makes you human.Forget the books you committed to bringing for every audien ce member? Let them know theyll be receiving them in the mail as follow-up, along with a bonus item to make up for the delay.Mishaps of all sorts happen when presenting you do not need to undercut yourself by needlessly saying sorry. Instead, you can use any issues to your advantage, demonstrating your cool and collected nature under fire.Developing your personal approach to presenting is a lifelong journey for fruchtwein of us, and executives with strong presentation skills are particularly valuable in todays knowledge-driven, fast-paced work environment. Id love to hear if there are any other things you NEVER say when making a presentation, or if there are other tips that youve applied to improve your own skills.The Feminist Financier is on a mission to help women build wealth and own their financial independence, by improving financial literacy and taking the mystery out of money. Ms. Financier is also a shoe addict, travel fanatic, and wine enthusiast.This article was originall y posted on Fairygodboss.com.