You Don’t Say

12 Sep You Don’t Say

Meaningless phrases abound in business presentations. These phrases are filler, or serve as an announcement. They do not reflect well on the speaker and are unnecessary, but old habits are hard to break. Unfortunately, they also waste the listeners’ time and test their patience.

To illustrate this, we’ve highlighted meaningless phrases that we hear far too often and compared what the speaker says versus what the audience is thinking.

Speaker says, “I’m going to talk about…” while the audience is thinking “You do know that you’re already talking.”

Speaker says, “Here’s a funny story…” while the audience is thinking “Really? I’ll be the judge of that!”

Speaker says, “Lastly” (repeated 3 times) while the audience is thinking “You only get one lastly per presentation.”

Speaker says, “In conclusion…” while the audience is thinking “Can you please finish before lunch?”

Speaker says, “As I said…” while the audience is thinking “If I’ve already heard it, why listen now?”

Speaker says, “At the end of the day…” while the audience is thinking “Say that once more and I’ll strangle you”

Speaker says, “Good morning. Thank you for being here.” while the audience is thinking “Say that once more and I’ll strangle you”