How To Not Suck At Presenting

I spent most of last week in NYC for Affiliate Summit East and in D.C. for HostingCon. I attended a few sessions and saw what I consider the good the bad and the ugly of presenting. In fact, I took some notes on the different presentation styles so I thought I'd share some tips on how not to suck at presenting:

• Don't brag about your hangover- yes, many people drink heavily at conferences but when speakers consistently talk about how hungover they are from the night before, it makes me feel like they aren't serious about their responsibility to impart wisdom.
• Be prepared (or at least fake it)- the audience can tell who knows their shit and who doesn't, especially if they accidentally say into the microphone that they're just going to wing it.
• Don't make jokes while others are speaking- being on a panel is a delicate situation with three egos trying to have an intelligent conversation on-stage without being redundant but please make sure anything you say adds to the conversation and don't just interrupt someone to make a stupid joke!
• Don't use thin white text on a black background- basically make your powerpoint slides legible.
• Give practical advice- the best presentations give practical, relevant and actionable advice and don't wax philosophical summarizing grand ideas.  Even better, tailor your presentation and suggestions to your audience and show that you've put some thought into your recommendations- that's impressive.

There you have it! If you keep these tips in mind at the next conference you speak at you probably won't suck and might even be invited to speak again!