5 Biggest Challenges That Most People Face While Presenting

Imagine with us.

There’s a huge presentation that your boss has entrusted you to deliver, despite the lack of presentation skills training. You step up to the challenge, meticulously going over your script and planning the best slides possible.

However, when it’s go-time, you involuntarily freeze up and all that effort goes down the drain.

A familiar scenario? Don’t fret!

What if we told you, there are basically the 5 biggest challenges that our participants encounter when presenting to a group.

Also, read to the end to find out how we’ve formulated the perfect business presentation delivery course that addresses these issues, and more!

1. Pre-presentation jitters

Even the most seasoned professionals have let the jitters get the best of them, presentation skills training or not. There are 2 secrets that may not completely eliminate this, but it can certainly help alleviate your unfounded fears.

• Embrace your nerves! Acknowledge that this presentation is important to you, and take extra steps to ensure that you’ve prepared to the best of your ability. To reduce your nerves, consider practising deep breathing exercises or drink some warm tea to calm yourself down.

• Create engaging slides! Presentation slides are designed to support your sharing, not compete for attention from your audience. Avoid an information overload and only include essential points to reinforce takeaways.

2. Lack of audience interaction

Build an emotional connection with your audience by adding texture to your presentation, no matter how mundane it may sound. Try opening with a relatable anecdote, or use real-life analogies that make data more meaningful and easier to digest!

3. Low self-confidence

In this case, the age-old adage is more than apt. Low self-confidence is typically tied to a fear of being judged or being seen as inadequate. Ever heard of imposter syndrome? 

There is no quick fix for something that can be deeply rooted in one’s upbringing, but there are certain tips and tricks that can help you overcome this perception. Try practising daily affirmations in front of the mirror. Run through your script and eliminate crutch words from your speech.

Once you’ve slowly but surely built up that confidence, your focus changes from the audience’s perception of you to building rapport and relating to them.

Poor body language: Here’s a quick tip – reserve big movements with your hands and feet; gesturing only to emphasise key points in your presentation

4. Ineffective Slides Design

A vital component in a presentation, your slides are there to support your sharing while adding visual interest to capture your audience’s attention. However, if not used effectively for your target audience, watch their eyes glaze over while you desperately try to bring their focus back to you.

Here are a couple of things to steer clear of:

• Cramming too many elements: Imagine tons of videos, photos, text and slide animations text all jostling for attention on the slide. 
• Keep your script or speech prompts hidden from the audience’s view. Like any good show, rarely do you find the actors broadcasting their script for all to see. It takes away from the suspense of your speech, and speed-readers will grasp the gist of the presentation and quickly lose attention.

5. Speaking too fast or too slow

As an audience member, there’s nothing more dreadful than being stuck in a presentation that seems like it’ll never end. On the contrary, a great talk flies by.

Ending early isn’t always a positive sign, but ending late is certain to draw ire and leave a less-than-positive impression. Generally, our television habits have resulted in a 30- to 40-minute presentation tolerance before they need a “commercial break”. Worse still, in today’s social media generation, that attention span has been drastically reduced to mere seconds. 

Hence, when rehearsing for the presentation, pace yourself so that you aren’t speaking too fast or too slow, communicating clearly with accurate pronunciation. 

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Can you identify with any of these challenges?

If the answer is a resounding “YES!”, then perhaps it’s time to brush up on your presentation skills! Regardless of which industry you’re in, it’s a great skill to possess and can serve you well long into your career.

The star of the show is Steve Dawson, a professional master coach and the key course developer. He’s a renowned sports television presenter for prominent sports channels like FOX Sports & ESPN STAR Sports for 20 years. 

To date, he has trained with corporate professionals from more than 10 of the world’s renowned companies to excel at business presentation delivery. 

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Looking to take your career to the next level? Gunning for that job promotion within sight? Then it’s time to polish your business presentation skills training! The sign-up link for 2023’s intake can be found here.