"Art is unthinkable without risk and spiritual self-sacrifice." — Boris Pasternak

The quote above may be true in terms of art. But when it comes to a business presentation, why take a chance?

Here are a dozen risky behaviors guaranteed to reduce your impact and influence when you speak. Insulting your boss or your client or running screaming from the room will ensure that your presentation is a disaster. The following, though less dramatic, will still help you miss memorability by a mile. For that result, indulge in the advice in bold—or to succeed, practice the suggestions in the rest of each paragraph:

1. Neglect an audience analysis. It’s easy to get so wrapped up in your material that you leave the audience out of the equation. Remember: you’re already strong in terms of content. But what about relating to audiences and being comfortable in their presence? Even with an audience you know well, something is different in this speaking situation. Ask yourself what that is. It’ll be time well spent. Here are other valuable ways to measure success in a business presentation or meeting.
2. Confuse your purpose with your topic. This is another easy mistake to make. If the question is, “What are you trying to accomplish with these listeners?” the answer is never, “Well, I’m going to talk about . . .” Delivering information is one thing. But the clearer you are on what you want listeners to think, feel, or do as a result of your speech, the more likely those results will take place.
3. Give your presentation technology the upper hand. PowerPoint, Prezi, and all their brethren will never make the impression on your audience an impassioned argument will. I’m sometimes asked to speak to professional organizations on this very topic. Like the members of those groups, you need to forget about the bells and whistles and wear your teaching hat instead. Go here for some ways to create powerful and persuasive slides.
4. Fail to launch strongly. The most important part of your presentation is the first minute. Your opening needs to a) Engage the audience, b) Show them you’re going to be interesting, and c) Tell them where you’re going with this speech. Nobody accomplishes all that by reading from a slide that says “Agenda” followed by 6 or 7 bullet points. Here are12 foolproof ways to grab your audience.
5. Use your visual tool as a literary document. Let’s get back to PowerPoint. It is, of course, avisual tool, which means its impact comes from the visual interest it generates. So why do so many speakers load their slides with words? If you see a photo of Bill Gates speaking to a text-heavy slide versus Steve Jobs with an image of an iPhone behind him, you’ll understand the need to stay visual not literary.
6. Be speaker-centered instead of audience-centered. That content you know so well comes with a problem: It can keep you in a maze of your own information, unable to see over the next hedge. The prime example of this is a salesperson talking about all the solutions his or her company offers. Instead, he, she, you, and I need to conceive and deliver our presentation in terms of the audience. At all times.
7. Try to survive rather than win. Ever listen to a presenter who’s dying to get the whole damn thing over with? Obvious, isn’t it? When you’re facing a high-stakes presentation, ask yourself: “Am I thinking of this in terms of not looking bad?” If so, it’s time to get out of a negative mindset and try some positive thinking and visualizations.
8. Stay trapped in your head. Omnipotent brains in bell jars are great for science fiction flicks. But your audience has noticed that you have a body—and they’re expecting you to use it. Think about how you can achieve the physical expression of what you’re saying, with gestures, movement, and facial expressions. Watch a movie or TV show with the sound turned off. Look at how much information you’re getting from what the actors are showing when they speak!
9. Ignore your performance space. Body language also means being aware of your performance space. In both acting and public speaking, that means using as much of it as possible. I don’t mean pacing like a motivational speaker trying to manufacture excitement. Consider where you’re standing for each main point, though, so the audience gets visual variety. And look for ways to get closer to them. Click here for how to achieve amazing presence through body language.
10. Worry about yourself rather than your listeners. Sure, speeches and presentations are anxiety provoking. But it’s not helpful if you become more concerned with how you’re doing than what the audience is experiencing. Always keep your attention directed outward, from the preparation stage to the last moment of your performance. If you don’t have the necessary speaking skills by the time you perform, it ain’t worth worrying about it while you're talking.
11. Lack vocal expressiveness. It’s an unfortunate truth that virtually no one but actors get training in how to use the voice effectively. Yet the subtleties, nuance, and intentions of what you’re saying require a fully expressive voice. If you want to excel as a speaker and this isn’t your strong suit, invest in some coaching or training.
12. Forget about stage presence. Speaking for leadership of any kind means achieving some level of presence. It’s not a mysterious quality, either. Presence more than anything means simply being present, which requires as close to 100% focus as you can manage. My new book Fearless Speaking, has an entire chapter on “Staying Focused, Mindful, and On Message.” Be fully present, and listeners will find you a memorable speaker.

Let's make this a baker's dozen. Here's one more:

Try to be excellent. This one needs to be crystal clear: Your job isn’t to be an excellent speaker. It’s to be an excellent ________ (write in your job title). You have to be a good communicator when you speak, and that’s it. Know your stuff, think in terms of your audience, and try as hard as you can to get your ideas across. There’s nothing risky about proceeding like that.

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