Karen Hough - Be the Best Bad Presenter Ever: Break the Rules, Make Mistakes, and Win Them Over

More Praise for Be the Best Bad Presenter Ever

Be the Best Bad Presenter Ever is my second favorite book on public speaking!

Malcolm Kushner, author of Public Speaking for Dummies

Public speaking is the #1 fear of almost everyone. People are more afraid of speaking to a group than they are of snakes, spiders, or even burglars. But fear no more! Karen Houghs new book shows you how to feel your fear and do it anyway. Learn how to fumble, stumble, or even forget your linesbut still deliver a killer presentation!

BJ Gallagher, coauthor of A Peacock in the Land of Penguins

Karens book just makes me want to get out there and do it. Be yourself and damn the torpedoes! How refreshing.

Rick Gilbert, author of Speaking Up

BE THE BEST BAD PRESENTER EVER

Also by Karen Hough

The Improvisation Edge: Secrets to Building
Trust and Radical Collaboration at Work
The ImprovEdge Everyday Coaching Model:
Handling Tough Conversations in Three Simple Steps
Yes! Deck

BREAK THE RULES,
MAKE MISTAKES, AND
WIN THEM OVER

KAREN HOUGH

Be the Best Bad Presenter Ever

Copyright 2014 by Karen Hough and ImprovEdge LLC.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying,
recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written
permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted
by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed
Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

Ordering information for print editions

Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by
corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the Special Sales
Department at the Berrett-Koehler address above.

Individual sales. Berrett-Koehler publications are available through most
bookstores. They can also be ordered directly from Berrett-Koehler: Tel:
(800) 929-2929; Fax: (802) 864-7626; www.bkconnection.com

Orders for college textbook/course adoption use. Please contact
BerrettKoehler: Tel: (800) 929-2929; Fax: (802) 864-7626.

Orders by U.S. trade bookstores and wholesalers. Please contact Ingram
Publisher Services, Tel: (800) 509-4887; Fax: (800) 838-1149;
E-mail:customer.service@ingrampublisher services.com; or visit www.ingrampublisher services.com /Ordering for details about electronic ordering.

Berrett-Koehler and the BK logo are registered trademarks of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

First Edition

Paperback print edition ISBN 978-1-62656-047-5
PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-62656-048-2
IDPF e-book ISBN 978-1-62656-049-9

2014-1

Cover design: Irene Morris Design. Project management and interior design: VJB/Scribe. Copyediting: John Pierce. Proofreading: Don Roberts. Index: George Draffan. Illustrations: Jeevan Sivasubramaniam and Jeremy Sullivan. Author photo: R. Gust Smith.

To Mom and Dad
who enthusiastically attended every speech, performance, and
improvisationno matter how bad or bad it was.

So Who Said Youre a Bad Presenter?

ONE
THE BADDEST WAY TO PREPARE
Start Breaking the Rules Before You Even Hit the Stage

Break These Rules

TWO
YOU ARE THE PRESENTATION
So Be Your Baddest You

Break These Rules

THREE
OOPS!
Staying Bad, No Matter What Happens

Break These Rules

Let me guess: Youre a terrible presenter, right? You hate giving presentations. Some teacher or boss told you that you just dont have it when it comes to presenting. I bet that was a fun day. Youd love never to stand up in front of a crowd again, but youre stuck. Youre required to present, maybe because of your job or your position in the community. And every time another presentation comes up, all you can think is Ugh.

Or maybe youre a pretty decent presenter. You like taking on a challenge, but you sometimes get hung up on all the things youre supposed to do. You feel excited to stand up but still worry that youre not following all the rules.

I bet something else is true, too. You really do have something important to say. Youve got a few opinions and probably a message youd love to share with people if only you could stop shaking and sweating.

So you took all the feedback to heart. You tried to change. First you tried to mimic famous orators or entertainers and that made you feel like you were wearing someone elses clothes and they didnt fit. Then you took classes, learned the rules of speaking, and accepted abuse from counselors who just made you feel more awkward and worried. You just cant seem to get what you want, and you hate the fake, sales-y approach which, of course, makes you hate presenting even more.

Excellent!

You have more potential to give great presentations than any polished phony on the planet. Because guess what? Youre not innately a terrible presenter. Someone elses rules are making you bad rules from Presentations 101 the rules that box you in, regulate everything you do, and define good presentations. Rules like Always stand to the left of the screen, Never cross the beam of the projector, and Remain detached during the presentation.

Those rules are plain stupid! They hamstring you and keep you away from the real stuff the mystical secret sauce of great presentations: your authentic self.

I once worked with an executive at an insurance company who was a really rotten presenter. He stood stiffly back by the screen and froze every time he stumbled on a word. And he was actually presenting something he really loved his teams record-beating success! Take this guy off the stage, however, and one-onone he was a gregarious, funny man. Hed been verbally whipped by so many coaches to follow the rules of presenting that his confidence was blown. He felt trapped in the space up by the screen and miles away from the audience.

I suggested he just be himself to literally do whatever the heck made him comfortable. So he stood right at the front of the stage where he could see his audiences faces. Sometimes he stepped off the stage. In some parts of the presentation he even gave himself permission to sit down right in the audience! He was miked, so everyone could hear him, and the audience loved how he became one of them rather than a distant expert on stage.