An audience's biggest fear is having their time wasted. Immediately address this by opening with, "In this short presentation, I'll cover X, Y, and Z." This establishes command, signals respect for their time (even if it's not actually short), and allows them to relax because they know a competent person is in control.

Our brains can't effectively listen and read with comprehension simultaneously because we "read with our ears"—using the same processing center for both. Text-heavy slides force your audience into a cognitive battle, causing them to disengage. Use images only to reinforce your spoken words.

Contrary to building a presentation to a climax, you should share your most exciting statistic, trend, or trick within the first 90 seconds. This immediately hooks the audience and guarantees your most important message is heard, as attention inevitably wanes over time.

To capture a client's attention, ask for permission to skip the standard agency background and strategy slides. Dive straight into the creative concepts, which is what they are most eager to see and discuss, and read the rest later.

For every 10 minutes you speak, you generate about 2 minutes of questions in the audience's minds. To manage this, do a minor check-in every 2 minutes (e.g., "Was that clear?") and create a formal opening for questions every 10 minutes. This creates psychological safety and prevents disengagement.

Starting a new presentation by picking slides from an old one prioritizes reuse over the audience. This leads to disjointed, ineffective communication. Always start with a blank slate, focusing first on the new audience and what they need to hear, not on what content you already have.

The brain uses the same processing center for listening and reading, creating cognitive overload when presented with both at once. Your audience must choose between your spoken words and your written slide text, leading to poor comprehension and disengagement. Use images to reinforce, not text to compete.

Stanford communication expert Matt Abrahams advises against starting pitches with a team bio slide. Instead, immediately present the core idea and its value proposition to grab the audience's attention. Save your team's qualifications for after you've established the problem and solution, once the audience is already invested.

Stories begin with words and intent, not with PowerPoint. If you need a slide deck to deliver your message, you don't truly know your story and have created a vulnerability. A true performer can deliver their message even if the power goes out, while a "slide monkey" cannot.