In this anonymous survey we asked people about their best and worst presentation ever and their general experiences of public speaking and presenting.

A clear 50% of respondents had their best presentation at a conference. In close second place, a third of those surveyed, had their best event in the Board Room. Where it counts, perhaps.
A third of the best presentations began with a joke. Dramatic, anecdotal and quotation-led beginnings all featured in respondents’ best presentations.
Good news for all of us. Half the survey reckoned that presenting definitely gets easier with practice. And the other half thought this was probably the case. A very clear case for more public speaking!
Worst Presentation Ever
Worst presentation ever experiences were varied. Some 40% of respondents noted that they had been selected to give the presentation that turned out to be their lowest moment! And a quarter of the survey had actually volunteered to do their worst pitch ever. Ouch! And rather worryingly, a quarter of those surveyed had their worst event when it was part of their job. Perhaps this might be a case of not enough presentation practice beforehand?
When it came to those surveyed being in the presentation audience the responses were also telling. One bugbear was the speaker who only read their script. All day conference attendance was judged tedious. Board meetings were similar. And so was Church!
Perhaps this was on the mind of John Andrew Holmes when he came up with the quotation highlighted below.
You can tell us how you got on with your best and worst speech or presentation. We plan to update these results regularly.
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About Time To Market
Based in London and operational since 2001, Time to Market is a successful public speaking training company running off-site skills training courses throughout the United Kingdom.
PresentPerfectTM is a practical hands-on public speaking skills course. It’s available in either a half day or a full day format. The course combines one to one tuition, demonstration and individual practice.
Tailored courses are available for participants exclusively from one organisation. You can host these at your offices or our training locations. It’s at these locations that we hold our regular public presentation courses.
Media Contact
Peter Bowler
Time to Market Ltd
peterbowler@timetomarket.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1344 859 823
“When a sermon at length comes to an end, people rise and praise God, and they feel the same way after many other speeches.”
John Andrew Holmes