The Intentional Growth Leader · Issue 8 · 21 September 2026

Death by PowerPoint and how to stop killing your audience

Why do people forget my presentations?

A presenter at the front of a room beside a slide of bullet points and a bar chart, while the audience sleeps, yawns and loses interest. Beside it, the issue title Everyone communicates, few connect: Death by PowerPoint and how to stop killing your audience.

Brilliant people are often terrible at connecting. I’ve met highly capable people who tell me, “I’m just not a people person.” I’ve also met confident speakers who can hold a room’s attention but leave everyone feeling like they’ve been talked at.

I’ve been guilty of both. And I’ve probably caused a few cases of death by PowerPoint myself.

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Intentional Action

Before your next presentation, ask yourself:

“What do they already know, and how can I add value to it?”

Then remove one thing that doesn’t help you do that.

What would you remove?

Are you growing on purpose, or by accident?

Twelve questions, two minutes. See where you’ve quietly plateaued, and the one area to work on first.

Take the Leadership Growth Check