I have both given and sat through many presentations over the years. Prior to committing to the web full-time in the late 90’s I was an investment banker and financial adviser to both private companies and state and local governments. I have been a member of Tech Coast Angels, a SoCal investment group and have sat through more presentations than I care to remember. I’ll let you in on a secret.   Most presentations S-U-C-K.  The audience is sitting around, twiddling their thumbs and counting the minutes until the presentation ends.   I’ll let you in on another secret.  Almost everyone in the audience WANTS to be blown away.  They are looking for the presentation team to hit a home run.  To make an impact.  To tell them something they don’t already know. To pitch an idea which so unique and clever that they can’t wait to hear more.

I’m not going to give my thoughts here on what I think makes for a good and clear idea that works and is fundable.  That’s for another post.  Rather I want to discuss why I believe most presentations fail. (more…)