I asked ~40 people “What makes preparing and delivering presentations so difficult?” They named 3 reasons each. This is the analysis of their replies.

1. PRESENTATIONS
SUCK
WHY
Alexei Kapterev
WWW.KAPTEREV.COM

2. GOOD PRESENTATIONS ARE HARD TO DO.

3. THEY MIGHT SEEM EASY.

4. BUT OF COURSE THIS IS JUST AN
ILLUSION. IT’S ALL HARD WORK.

5. BUT WHAT EXACTLY MAKES THEM SO HARD?
(oops, wrong picture)

6. BUT WHAT EXACTLY MAKES THEM SO HARD?
(yep, that’s me)

7. to
I DECIDED
ASK

8. I asked ~40 people “What makes preparing
and delivering presentations so difficult?”
Disclaimer: I am not a sociologist, this is by no means scientific. If
you want to research this subject properly — please do contact me.
They named 3 reasons each.
This is the analysis of their replies.
It’s illuminating.

9. PRESENTATION
PROBLEMS
META
Motivation (31)
Setting goals (12)
Presentations aren’t important (9)
Slacking (8)
Other (2)
No content (10)
Audience-related (8)
Presentations culture (7)
Other (4)
STRUCTURE Structuring (15)
Storytelling (9)
Focus on the core (11)
Other (4)
SLIDES
DELIVERY
Design skills (12)
Lack of taste or visual culture (7)
Fear or anxiety (10)
This is the amount of
complaints in this category

10. Surprise #1:
MOST PROBLEMS WITH
PRESENTATIONS HAVE
NOTHING TO DO WITH
PRESENTATION SKILLS.

11. SUCK
PRESENTATIONS
beca e
PEOPLE DON’T WANT
TO DO THEM

12. HARD
WORK
YOU SEE, ON ONE HAND, IT’S HARD
WORK. ON THE OTHER HAND…

13. OH, WAIT, WHAT’S
ON THE OTHER HAND?!
?HARD
WORK

14. “This presentation is just a formality,
you know…”
“All important decisions are made
behind the scenes anyway…”
“Everybody admits — secretly —
that it’s just a waste of time…”
PRESENTATIONS AREN’T IMPORTANT

15. PEOPLE DON’t SET MOTIVATING GOALS
“There was no clear goal…”
“There is no real goal, they just do it
because they were told to do it…”
“They don’t understand that they
have to SELL their ideas…”

16. TRY SETTING GOALS THAT MOTIVATE YOU
TIP #1

17. WORK ON THE END FIRST (IT’S WHERE
YOU ASK PEOPLE TO DO SOMETHING!)
TIP #2

18. Come up with your ending before you
figure out your middle. Seriously. !
Endings are hard, get yours working
up front.
Pixar, Inc.
Storytelling Rule #7
“
”

19. SOMEHOW COMMUNICATE THAT
PRESENTATIONS ARE IMPORTANT
TOP PRESENTATION
AWARD WINNER
OR SOMETHING
TIP #3for managers

20. Surprise #2:
STRUCTURING
INFORMATION
IS THE MOST IMPORTANT
PRESENTATION SKILL

23. The main point is
obscured by lots of
irrelevant detail.
Source: PowerPoint® Presentation Flaws and Failures:
A Psychological Analysis (2012) by Stephen M. Kosslyn et al
THE SINGLE MOST COMMON AND ALSO
THE MOST ANNOYING PRESENTATION PROBLEM
“
”

24. STRUCTURING & PRIORITISING
“I want to tell them EVERYTHING but
there’s never enough time…”
“They don’t structure the information
so it’s just incomprehensible….”
“Presenters don’t focus on what’s most
important…”

25. HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY THE CORE?
YOU NEED TO ORGANISE YOUR INFORMATION

26. LEARN TO USE MIND MAPS OR CONCEPT
MAPS FOR PLANNING PRESENTATIONS
TIP #4

27. Surprise #3:
POWERPOINT*
* OK, no surprise here

28. Editing slides
for most people
is really, really
HARD.
Editing slides
for most people
is really, really
HARD.

29. Editing slides is hard
“I am not a designer so it doesn’t come
out pretty…”
“Most presentation programs require
a tutor to use them…”
“Design.”

30. TIP #5
FORGIVE ME FOR BEING CAPTAIN OBVIOUS
BUT SOFTWARE & DESIGN TRAINING HELPS

31. 1. Do I really, really want to make
this presentation? Why? Get to
the bottom of it.
2. Mind mapping helps a lot.This
is probably presentation skill #1.
3. There’s still no decent slide
editor, both powerful and easy
to use.This is an opportunity.
KEY TAKEAWAYS

33. License: CC, Attribution, Share Alike | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/
kapterev@gmail.com
www.kapterev.com/eng/
ALEXEI KAPTEREV