7 ways to ruin your presentation

No matter how deep your knowledge of a given subject, you can still botch your presentation of your expertise.

I have an interview series, Inside Voice, in which I ask speakers and speechwriters to share their public speaking insights, lessons learned and best practices. I asked each frequent speaker and speechwriter in the series to share a speaking pet peeve, in their speaking or writing roles and as audience members themselves.

Steer clear of these bad habits, tactics and ideas:

1. “Overreliance on PowerPoint.” That’s his pet peeve as a speechwriter, but TEDMED chief storytelling officer Marcus Webb says that as an audience member, “my pet peeve is speakers who give you a handout, then read it to you…word for word. This is particularly deadly in an office meeting where the audience can’t leave.”