(612 Reviews)

Presentations That Miss the Mark Concern

Deliver Presentations That Capture Attention and Drive Action.

Implications of Presentations That Miss the Mark

When presentations fall flat, so do opportunities. Whether the goal is to persuade, inform, or align, a poorly structured or unclear presentation can create confusion instead of clarity. Teams may lose credibility, miss decisions, or fail to move projects forward. Effective presentations combine strong visuals, purposeful structure, and a clear message tailored to the audience.

Presentation Habits That Hurt Business

Presentation problems often start with writing habits. Teams may overload slides with text, recycle old decks, or skip the planning phase entirely. Without a clear story and audience focus, even good content can fail to engage. These habits also affect other forms of communication, weakening your message across the board.

Frequent Reworks

If presentations are reworked multiple times, the message likely wasn’t clear from the start.

Unclear Reports

Reports that are converted into presentations without considering the audience and purpose often confuse rather than clarify.

Proposals that Don’t Win

When proposal decks focus on features over outcomes, they fail to persuade decision-makers.

Unclear Purpose

Without a defined goal, presentations lose their impact.

If any of these hit home, consider our Writing Workshops.

What Causes Presentations That Miss the Mark?

Presentations struggle when the content lacks structure, visuals are misused, and/or the speaker doesn’t have a clear idea of who the audience is. Many professionals rely on outdated slide decks or build content around what they want to say, not what the audience needs or wants to hear. With the right tools, teams can turn confusing decks into powerful communication.

Slides Overloaded With Text or Data

When every slide is packed, the key message gets lost and audiences disengage quickly.

Weak Storytelling Structure

Without a beginning, middle, and end, presentations feel scattered and hard to follow.

Lack of Clear Takeaways

Presentations that don’t highlight next steps or key points leave audiences unsure of what to do.

Overuse of Generic Visuals

Stock images or complex graphs that don’t support the message add more confusion than value.

Inconsistent Tone Between Slide and Speaker

When the slide content doesn’t match the delivery, audiences lose trust or focus.

Presenting Without Audience Analysis

Content that isn’t tailored to the audience is likely to fall flat.

Poor Transitions and Flow

Jumping between unrelated points without context makes it hard for the audience to stay engaged.

Limited Training in Presentation Techniques

Most professionals haven’t been taught how to build and deliver presentations that are effective and engaging.

Workshops That Remedy Presentations That Miss the Mark

Hurley Write’s workshops help professionals create and deliver presentations that connect. We teach teams how to plan a message, create compelling slides, and present with confidence. Participants learn how to simplify complex content, build flow, and communicate clearly to any audience. Whether presenting to executives or clients, these skills turn presentations into opportunities.

Next Steps: Improve Your Team’s Writing Today

Let’s discuss your team’s unique writing challenges. We’ll evaluate writing samples and recommend a customized solution designed to improve clarity, productivity, and results.

Don't take our word for it, see what our clients have to say.

For 35+ years, we’ve shown organizations how to improve their communication, whether that involved designing and teaching writing and/or reviewing workshops, improving their writing and/or reviewing tools, offering individualized coaching, or helping them put processes in place.

And we can help your team of professionals, too!

Aylia Thomas

John Deere

“I author content for operator manuals. All of the minimalism strategies taught in this class can be directly applied to my writing.I can see the benefits to both our audience as well as our checkbooks!”

William Walters

IDA

“The instructor covers many useful writing skills and concepts. I recommend the course to scientists, engineers, program managers, editors, or anyone who wants to write more persuasively and succinctly.”

Andrew Charles

Bristol Myers Squibb

“The two-day session were well planned and the breakout activities offered great opportunities to incorporate major lessons into the real-world writing deliverables.”

Mike Brett

Raytheon

“The content and instructions allows for taking bite sized pieces of the homework assignments. I learned a lot and the instructor was flexible with my busy travel and work schedule. I would take another course through Hurley Write.”

Mike Brett

conEd

“The content and instructions allows for taking bite-sized pieces of the homework assignments.I learned a lot and the instructor was flexible with my busy travel and work schedule. I would take another course through Hurley Write.”

Aylia Thomas

Orica US

“I author content for operator manuals. All of the minimalism strategies taught in this class can be directly applied to my writing. I can see the benefits to both our audience as well as our checkbooks!”

David Anderson

DTCC

“Hurley Write placed the emphasis on why we communicate in the first place. The instructor presented a truly captivating lecture on how we can very quickly craft an easy to read document that meets the needs of our reader. Thank you.”

Gregory Marshall

D & H Global Tax Group

“I found this class to be extremely worthwhile and I came away with many useful tools for effective writing. The instructor was great at engaging the class and presented information well. Overall, I’d say this was the most important course I’ve taken.”

Simon Matthews

Raytheon

“This course is helping me with the new documents that I am writing. I recommend this course to anyone involved in writing engineering or technical documents.”

Jacueline Davis

IDA

“Hurley Write placed the emphasis on why we communicate in the first place. The instructor presented a truly captivating lecture on how we can very quickly craft an easy-to-read document that meets the needs of our reader. Thank you.”

Judy Lettington

PaxVax

“Very concise and helpful. Came to our facility and answered all questions patiently and with real examples. Used multiple angles to explain concepts for better understanding. Really enjoyed the class.”

Dan Littlefield

Genentech

“We really needed someone who's expert at teaching the writing, because it's not just the writing, right?... I thought that one of the things that Hurley Write did that was really strong for us was talk about audience.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do our presentations fail to engage or persuade?

Presentations often fail when they are overloaded with information, lack structure, or don’t match the audience’s expectations.

Can your training improve both content and delivery?

Yes. We focus on message clarity, visual support, and delivery techniques that improve overall presentation impact.

Do you teach visual design and slide organization?

Yes. We help teams create slides that support, not distract from, the core message.

Is this workshop helpful for both technical and executive audiences?

Absolutely. We tailor training to ensure your team’s presentations connect with any audience, regardless of background.

Do you teach storytelling in presentations?

Yes! We use frameworks that help structure content into clear, engaging narratives that guide the audience through the material.

Can you help teams prep for high-stakes meetings?

Yes. We help teams structure and rehearse content for important presentations with real impact.

Do you use real presentations in the training?

Yes. We encourage teams to bring real decks so they can apply lessons directly to live content.