While most presenters focus more on the content’s message, they neglect things like repetitive phrases and audience distractions during their business pitch. As a presenter, you might have heard that these practices indicate a lack of practice and preparation. Every presenter’s desire is to engage his audience when delivering his business pitch.
As a speaker, your goal is to capture and keep their attention to convince them to listen throughout the pitch and learn from your topic. To achieve this, avoid these four phrases when addressing your audience:
1. “You probably can’t read this, but…”
Saying this phrase shows that you lack preparation and priority. Your job is to double check your pitch deck slides prior to your pitch date. Leadership trainer Kevin Eikenberry suggests that you prevent this from happening since it gives your audience a negative impression of you and your pitch.
The next time you present, make sure that your slide texts are readable so that you don’t end up mumbling an excuse like this.
2. “As you can clearly see…”
This is the opposite of the first statement, but it’s just as off-putting. Though your audience can view what you project on-screen, it’ll be much better to explain it in your own words. Since your pitch deck acts as your visual aid, make them understand what you’re trying to visualize and point out important details so they can clearly see your ideas.
3. “I didn’t really have time to prepare, but…”
Saying this to your audience convinces them that they shouldn’t be interested in your pitch. While it’s true that there are times you’ll appear unprepared, it’s still better not to mention this during your actual performance.
Your last resort is to give your best in conveying your subject matter’s main idea. This also teaches you to be ready the next time you conduct your pitch.
4. “I have a lot of information to cover, so…”
Saying this runs the risk of making your audience want to sleep. All this gets across is that you’ll be bombarding them with too much information. To avoid this, include only the most significant points that you want your audience to recall and provide them with a clear and concise pitch. Don’t place text-heavy slides on your deck to avoid losing their interest.
This also prevents you from going beyond your allotted time which shows that you respect them and their time.
Conclusion
You might be well-prepared for your pitch, but you could still commit some mistakes during your performance. However, it’s better to fail, knowing that you’ve done your best rather than failing without doing your part. An effective presenter is someone who sees even the little things that can affect or influence their pitch at some point.
This is the kind of speaker who values his audience and focuses on achieving his desired goal – to deliver his message that’s beneficial to them. To achieve a more effective pitch deck, let pitchdeck.com experts help you out!
References
http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/10-things-speakers-should-never-say-th.html
Featured Image: “Phrases Magnified Dictionary Text Lookup Search” by PDPics on Pixabay
