How Not to Suck at Presentations, The Reason Why Every Gen X Professional Needs to Hear

How Not to Suck at Presentations, The Reason Why Every Gen X Professional Needs to Hear

Let me ask you something uncomfortable.

When was the last time you sat through a presentation and actually stayed awake?

Now let me ask you something even more uncomfortable.

When was the last time someone stayed awake during yours?

This is the conversation I had with Fern Chan on a recent episode of the You're the Boss podcast — and if you have ever stood in front of a room and wondered why people were staring at their phones, this one is for you.

Who Is Fern Chan?

Fern Chan is a bestselling author, educator, and presentation coach who made the leap from the corporate world into entrepreneurship — and she has spent years helping professionals stop boring their audiences to death.

Her book, How Not to Suck at Presentations, says everything you need to know about her approach. Direct. Practical. No fluff.

And that is exactly the kind of conversation we had.

The Real Reason Most Presentations Fail

Here is what Fern told me — and it has stayed with me ever since.

Most presenters walk into a room thinking about what they want to say. The best presenters walk in thinking about what their audience needs to hear.

That single shift changes everything.

When you load your slides with every piece of information you know on a topic, you are not being thorough. You are being lazy. You are outsourcing the thinking to your audience instead of doing it yourself — and your audience will punish you for it by switching off.

Information overload is not impressive. It is exhausting.

The presentations that land — the ones people remember and act on — are built around one clear message, delivered with intention and energy.

The Stage Fright Nobody Talks About

For Gen X professionals especially, there is a particular kind of stage fright that does not get discussed enough.

It is not the fear of public speaking. It is the fear of being judged by people who know less than you do — and still getting it wrong.

You have decades of expertise. You know your subject inside and out. And yet the moment you stand up in front of a room, something shifts. The voice gets smaller. The slides become a crutch. The brilliance you bring to your actual work somehow does not make it into the room.

Fern's message to that is clear: your expertise is not the problem. Your delivery is.

And delivery — like language, like personal branding — is a skill. It can be learned. It can be practised. It can be fixed.

What Makes a Presentation Actually Work

Here is what Fern shared that I found most practical and immediately actionable:

Know your audience before you open your mouth. Who are they? What do they already know? What do they need to walk away with? Build everything around the answers to those questions — not around what you want to say.

Your body language is speaking before you do. How you stand, how you move, where you look — all of it communicates confidence or uncertainty before a single word leaves your mouth. Own the room physically and your words will land differently.

Engagement is not a nice-to-have. It is the job. If your audience is not engaged, your message is not landing — no matter how good the content is. Fern's rule is simple: if you are boring yourself, you are definitely boring them.

Death by PowerPoint is a Choice

We have all experienced it. Slide after slide of bullet points, read aloud verbatim by someone who could have just sent an email.

Fern is unequivocal on this: PowerPoint is a tool, not a script. The moment you start reading from your slides, you have lost the room. Your slides should support what you are saying — not replace you saying it.

The most powerful presentations she has seen use visuals sparingly, strategically, and always in service of the audience's understanding — not the presenter's comfort.

The Bottom Line

If you are a Gen X professional — someone who has spent decades building expertise, navigating complexity, and delivering results — you owe it to yourself to communicate at the level you actually operate.

Your ideas deserve a room that is listening.

Your experience deserves an audience that is engaged.

And your message deserves to land.

Listen to my full conversation with Fern Chan on the You're the Boss podcast and find out exactly how to make that happen.

👉 [Click here to listen to the full episode]

And if you want Fern's free gift — 5 Crazy-Simple Hacks to Keep Eyes Open and Butts in Seats During Your Presentation — grab it here:

👉 fernchan.com/5-crazy-simple-hacks