Your Opening Minute
"Most presenters are at their worst in the first minute of their presentation. Their voices are soft and cracking, their inhibited gestures look like tics, and they're babbling some drivel like "good morning, ladies and gentlemen...." Now let's think a minute. When do you think the audience is making its most critical evaluation of you as a presenter? Right. That first minute when you're at your worst.

If you don't begin your presentation with a dynamite, MEMORIZED opening, you might as well walk up there with a sign hanging around your neck that says, "Presenter Trainee".

Presentation Length
"When was the last time you heard a presentation that was too short? Since you'll never know exactly how much information to give an audience, you're either going to give them too much or too little. Dull presenters give too much. Great presenters give too little information presented in an exciting way. That leaves lots of time for audience questions and that's good."

Laser Pointers
"Oh please, let's not be silly."

Power Point
"Some people really believe Power Point can "rescue" a dumb presentation. Of course some people believe in the Warren Commission Report and the Easter Bunny. Now you shouldn't make fun of these people - but you really don't want to hang around them for any length of time either."

Audiences - 1
"Most audiences have the attention span of retarded goldfish. Although good presenters can trip along at about 150-160 words per minute, most audience members can think four or five times faster than that. And if you're a typical presenter, one suspects they're not thinking of you. What's that you're telling me? They look like they're paying attention? What they're really doing is practicing a skill they learned in the first grade: pretending to pay attention'. Just don't call on them."

Reality
"In presentations, audience perceptions ARE reality. If you can understand this one concept, you're on your way to being a great presenter."

Presentation Boredom and Health
"Sometimes, when I've listened to some dull mope read to me screens full of information which I could easily read myself (if I had any interest), I think, 'I'd rather pass a kidney stone than another minute listening to this nit. Why did I get into this line of work?'"

"If I was given just six months to live, I'd fill the time listening to business presentations. Then, to me, six months would seem like a frigging eternity."

Of couse there is much more in my book.