​Inc. has a great list of tips on things you should never say when speaking in front of an audience (of any size).
- "I'm jet-lagged/tired/hungover."
- "Can you hear me? Yes you can!"
- "I can't see you because the lights are too bright."
- "I'll get back to that later."
- "Can you read this?"
- "Let me read this out loud for you."
- "Shut off your phone/laptop/tablet."
- "You don't need to write anything down or take photos; the presentation will be online later."
- "Let me answer that question."
- "I'll keep it short."
- Bonus tip: "What, I'm out of time? But I have 23 more slides!"
I've personally used a variation of #1 – the daddy excuse. But that was more for my appearance than poor presentation skills.
Also, I know a lot of people get worried about answering questions in the middle of a presentation – I actually prefer it. I like to plan my talk to fill the entire alloted time but know my topic well enough that I can swerve off the planned presentation if needed.
A few years ago I presented at Conference Day during each break-out session and I don't believe I ever moved beyond the third or forth slide thanks to great questions from the audience. And even using a limited version of my planned presentation, we had a great discussion each time - covering completely different aspects of social media.
Finally, I would also add, don't make jokes about the weather. The last conference I attended was during the December snow storm in Dallas. It felt like EVERY speaker had to start off with some joke about how Dallas is supposed to be hot and not snowy.
After the third speaker the jokes get really boring and old.
What would you add to the list?
