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Most business presentations are aimed at ‘the boss’

Release Date: 14th January 2003

Most people in business believe that they need to impress the boss with their presentations rather than influence the audience.

This is the conclusion of a three-month survey conducted by The Presentation Business which reveals that more people are worried about their job prospects than they are about getting their message across.

The survey showed that 67% of people rate ‘being seen to do a good job by my boss’ as the ‘number one’ priority of any presentation they make. The second most important reason for doing well at presenting is to ‘be appreciated’, according to the survey. Being able to get a point across rates as only the third – out of five factors – that people think are important.

Graham Jones, the Managing Director of The Presentation Business said: ‘I find this quite staggering. It seems that most of the presenters in the businesses we surveyed spend their time talking to the wrong audience. They are effectively talking to their boss, rather than their real audience. Is it any wonder that so many audiences rate presentations as so poor?’

The survey showed that most people can cope well with preparing audio visual aids and running PowerPoint, but they are not so capable at delivering messages or dealing with controversial issues.

Graham Jones said: ‘Considering that many presentations have to deal with difficult or controversial matters, it is quite sad that people are concentrating on preparing their PowerPoint slides, rather than attempting to get their message across.’

Even though people can prepare their slides well, the survey showed that most people are unable to keep their presentations to time and fail to stay on track with their subject. The survey data is compiled from responses to a self analysis questionnaire at The Presentation Business web site: www.presentationbiz.co.uk.

ENDS

Graham Jones is available to the media for comment

Graham Jones is available for comment and quoting in articles and on broadcasts. He is a regular contributor to a variety of media and can talk to you about any aspect of human communication.

Contact him on:

0118 336 9712