Partner Article

To Err is human... but don't do it

With Simon Raybould of Curved Vision Â

Attending presentations is a bit of a busman’s holiday for me – if I’m not careful, I end up looking at the way the presentation is being given, rather than concentrating on the content. Mind you, if I’m doing that, it’s a sure-fire sign that the content of the presentation is poor and the battle is ready lost, from the presenter’s point of view.

So it’s a bad sign that I can pass on a hint based on a presentation I was at last week. Let’s put it like this…

“Errr” is not a word!

If it’s not allowed on Scrabble, you shouldn’t be saying it.

Yes, I know you’re likely to be nervous (particularly at the start of your presentation), so it might be worth practicing your opening few sentences word for word. I’m normally not a fan of things recited ‘by rote’ because they sound exactly that – but if your opening sentence is “Errr, hello errr my name is, errr” you might want to think about a bit of rehearsal time.

To be honest, my experience of the way people listen to opening sentences is that they listen pretty superficially so you can probably get away with a little less flexibility in what you say. After all, they’re expecting you to be saying ‘hello’ and that doesn’t take much listening to! So practice, practice, practice… and as I’ve said before, practice out loud!

As that is my last tip before Christmas I’d like to take the chance to wish everyone a good time and a Happy Christmas!

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .