Nine in ten office workers see a business impact from presenting well, but 81% still experience technology issues, according to a new survey by Barco.
The study surveyed office workers across the UK, US, France and Germany. It shows that four in ten professionals present in meetings several times a week and 85% of them use technology to deliver presentations.
Just over half (51%) think that having the right technology is equally as important, or even more important, than having the right presenter, with 81% experiencing technology issues when presenting.
As well as the wider business benefits, when it comes to what makes a presentation successful, office workers believe that a presentation that has no technology issues (39%) is key to success. This is almost as important as having all aims of the presentation achieved (64%).
Around four in ten (41%) state that not having a backup plan for something going wrong (e.g. technology failure) is a key mistake to avoid when making a presentation. Among the most important presenting skills, subject matter expertise (73%), ability to explain complex topics in a simple way (63%) and successfully responding to audience feedback and questions (53%) rank highly. Whilst the ability to use technology effectively (34%) is still key to a successful presentation.
Laptops and plug-in cables were the most used technology for presenting (67%), followed by projectors (55%t) and wireless screen share devices (35%). Nearly half (47%) agreed that their organisation’s technology sometimes fails, while 55% believe that their organisation’s technology could be better to enable them to deliver more successful presentations.
Only 30% said that presentation training is offered to all employees.