Who Are You Speaking To?

A common mistake when giving a presentation is to read the text on your slides. As has been touched upon before, you don't want a lot of text on your slides, but also, reading from your slide disconnects you from your audience. You're no longer engaging with them--you're turning around and talking to your slides, which is weird...and rude! And, if you have a fixed microphone, your audience will have trouble hearing you if you keep turning away from it!

So: don't read from your slide. Know your content well enough that it doesn't have to be recited and keep your focus on your audience. They deserve to have you speak directly to them, and you deserve to be heard!