The Office Jester… every office needs one to make light of annoying presentation habits
It doesn’t matter how digital we get or how advanced the software programmes we use have become, presentations are still a vital component of the modern day office. In fact, one of the reasons why presentations are so ingrained into our work culture is that they’ve been around for a very long time. Before we had all these gadgets, presentations used to be made on calendar like paper arranged neatly on an easel laid out nicely on a tripod.
While presentations used to be a huge deal in those days, they’ve, somewhat lost their charm since then. Nowadays, presentations are seen more like annoyances that can’t be avoided by most professionals. Modern day presentations, in fact, are no more than a few graphs and charts padded with fluff. In some cases, even the graphs and charts are fluff and tacked on simply because the presenter is required by his boss to give a presentation. It’s not surprising that so many attendees choose to not be mentally “present” for such presentations. Why has such a turnaround occurred in how presentations are viewed by the very people who have to create them?
The reason is that it’s become incredibly easy to make presentations. That’s right peeps, presentations have gone from exciting to mind-numbing because they’re easy to make. After all, directing some generic clicks and copy-pasting some images into the right window aren’t really brainy tasks. So, people’s brains remain firmly turned off when they make presentations.
Since the brains are turned off, some common oversights and mistakes have turned into annoying presentation habits. It is these annoying presentation habits, though, that will end up being at the root of the following video and the source of what we hope will be some truly evil sniggers and snide remarks inside your conference rooms.
Annoying Presentation Habits Come Out Of The Closet!
Despite coming in at only 3:40, this video is fairly comprehensive. It includes virtually all annoying presentation habits that you must’ve come across in your whole life. That is saying something, you know.
There’s a tongue in cheek quality to this video. Everything is delivered in a good humoured manner. However, that doesn’t mean that these guys pull some punches. In fact, one of the things we liked about this video of annoying presentation habits is that it mocks everyone involved in a presentation equally. Heck, it doesn’t even leave the IT guy out of the picture. Here are our highlights.
- Checking notes: Have you noticed how every time you walk into a conference room, seminar venue, or even an auditorium, the guy about to give the presentation is always going through his notes? Well, these guys definitely did and made fun of it too. It’s almost like this should be a trick as opposed to one of the many annoying presentation habits. Could it be one of those open secrets revolving around the belief that acting in such a manner makes you look professional, studious, or academic? On the other hand, we think it just helps the presenters hide their nervousness. Oh and BTW, tapping random keys on the computer serves the same purpose but then you knew about it seeing how you do it every time your boss walks anywhere near your computer at work.
- Mediocre ice breaker joke: What is it with all these presenters that makes them think that their mediocre ice breaker joke will be well received? After all, do you meet your girlfriend’s father for the first time and fire off a joke? Do you go to interviews and start things off with a “Yo Mama is so Fat”? Do you go around telling strangers on the street sad ass jokes? Pffft!
- Dramatic pause, poignant quote: Ah, the pregnant pause or the dramatic dithering, if you prefer. It’s like the bread and butter of all poor public speakers. Try watching old Hitler videos, known as the great mass murderer but an even greater orator, and tell us how many babies he birthed through his pregnant pauses. The BFF of the pregnant pause is the poignant quote, of course. Whether it is required in the presentation or not, it has to be included. Along with the pregnant pause, this is possibly one of the most annoying presentation habits.
- Reading off a long paragraph: Never ever make this one of YOUR annoying presentation habits. It is a clear sign that you couldn’t be bothered with the presentation. It is also a clear sign that for your IQ you only have a 9 month pregnant pause.
- Shocking statistic, vague lingo: Meh… That’s all we have to say for this bit. Shocking statistics do add oomph to a presentation but there’s something known as over – the – top too. While emphasising on it is okay, it shouldn’t be the centrepiece of your presentation. For example, you should be emphasising every number with your voice, while tapping the pen, and thumping your foot too. These kinds of annoying presentation habits just don’t work. All they end up doing is making you look like a one legged monkey who has extremely limited ambitions of singing like Justin Beiber and pointing like Ricky Ponting.
- Technical difficulty: There is possibly no presentation in the world that can be considered complete without something going wrong with the equipment. Whether it’s the laptop, the mouse, the sound, the light, or even the projector, something or the other has to go wrong. It’s almost like the IT guy makes this happen deliberately to show everyone his importance. Once he’s called, he almost always has this constipated expression on his face as if he had a rock solid bread made out of highly processed wheat flour and no veggies whatsoever the day before.
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