As we recapped in our an overview to our December 2010 survey this year (Insight from Distinction’s 2010 Presentation Impact Survey), there were some areas that hardly wavered from our 2009 results, some areas that showed some movement and a few new questions we posed. Here’s a quick recap of what we heard…
What region of the world represents where you most frequently present?
81.7% North America
9.3% Europe
6.7% Asia/Pacific
2.3% Other
Which best represents your role in your organization?
22% Senior Management
28.8% Sales & Marketing
31.3% Training & Development
3.8% Operations
3.3% Administration
10.8% Other
How would you rank the importance of personal presentation skills on your career and income?
86% Communicating with a solid level of clarity and confidence directly impacts my career and income
10.5% Presentation skills are helpful but only impact my job somewhat
3.3% I present from time-to-time, but those skills probably don’t impact my job
What do you find to be the most challenging part of creating and delivering a presentation?
45.3% Putting together a good message so my presentation flows well
10.5% Creating good quality and professionally-looking slides
9.7% Delivering the presentation with confident & credible skills
34.3% All of the above are equally challenging
What is the mix of face-to-face presentations you deliver vs. web-based presentations?
41.5% I only deliver face-to-face presentations
36% Most of my presentations are face-to-face with a few that are web-based
11.4% An even mix of face-to-face and web-based
11% More than half my presentations are now web-based
How do you allocate your presentation preparation time? (% of time on “what” you are going to say – raw message, creating visuals, information gathering vs. % on ”how” you are going to say it – physical walk-through, virtual practice sessions)
1.2% 100% of my time on “what” I’m going to present
14.4% 90% on the “what”, 10% on the “how”
34.3% 80% on the “what”, 20% on the “how”
28.3% 70% on the “what”, 30% on the “how”
16.5% 60% on the “what”, 40% on the “how”
5% 50% or less on the “what”
Do you believe you are an effective presenter?
62.2% Yes, I believe I’m a pretty effective presenter
8.4% No, I’m aware that my skills are not as strong as I would like
29.2% I think I’m somewhat in the middle – an “average” presenter
Rank these presentation frustrations from most to least
#1 Presentation technologies don’t always work predictably
#2 The time it takes to create the slides
#3 No time to actually practice the delivery
#4 Collaborating with others in creating and delivering
#5 Getting good feedback
Which best reflects your ability to get good feedback on the presentations you deliver?
41.9% I get regular & helpful feedback on my presentations
44% The feedback I receive is very infrequent and not always helpful
13.9% I rarely/never receive direct input on my presentation skills
We expect our managers to model the skills they want us to have. How would you evaluate your own manager’s presentation skills?
25% My manager is a very strong presenter
43.6% He/she is just average in their skills
13.1% He/she is not a very good presenter
18.2% I have no immediate manager
What best describes who you most often present to today?
41.1% Mostly external audiences
28.8% A fairly even mix of internal and external presentations
30% Mostly internal presentations
What best describes the PowerPoint (or equivalent) presentations you or your team deliver? (Be as objective as you can.)
36.8% High-caliber and well-designed visuals
13.1% Pretty simple – bordering on too elementary
17.7% Way too much information on a slide
32.2% Average visuals – no better or worse than I see from others
Which best reflects your approach to laying out your presentation messages?
22% I don’t have a consistent approach
20.7% I borrow information from other presentations and it just comes together
43.2% I follow a specific formula that works well for me
13.1% Other
Please note: If your organization will be publishing these statistic, please provide the following attribution…
This annual survey is conducted by Distinction Communication Inc., a Portland, OR –based presentation support company that provides messaging, advanced design and delivery skills coaching to clients around North America.
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[...] for a number of industry-related websites. In this conversation, Jim discusses the results of the 2010 Annual Presentation Impact Survey conducted by his company, Distinction Communication, [...]