1. START OR END LATE
Starting and ending your presentation late sends the message
to participants that you do not feel their time is valuable.
2. APPEAR UNPREPARED
Fumbling through your notes, or searching for out of order
visual aids makes you look unprepared and you are less
effective. Rehearse your presentation. Thirty minutes before
your presentation is scheduled to begin, check your teaching
aids to ensure that everything is in order.
3. DON'T INVOLVE THE PARTICIPANTS
The quickest way to lose
your audience is to simply stand in
the front of the room and talk at them. It was as true for
Confucius in 451 B.C., and it's true today -- What I hear, I
forget; What I see, I remember; What I do, I understand.
4. USE INAPPROPRIATE LANGUAGE OR HUMOR
There is never an "on" reason to be off color. Inappropriate
language and humor lessens your both your image as a
professional and your effectiveness as a trainer.
5. BE A KNOW-IT-ALL
As the trainer, you really are the expert. Just don't remind
the class of it. Remember that every chance you have to
raise yourself up will almost always mean lowering someone
else by the same margin.