If you’d like your IT projects and department to run more efficiently and effectively, you probably need to develop a keen appreciation of the work of archaeologists. That’s right, real archaeologists. I’m not talking about the Indiana Jones variety of adventurous grave-robbers, but of those men and women who spend their summers patiently digging in the dirt with trowels, dental picks and paint brushes looking for sticks, stones and bones.

As IT professionals, eventually, we are all called upon to deliver presentations to clients, users, supervisors, or peers.  It’s not something that tends to come naturally to us.  We’d much rather be writing code, doing project plans, or even writing documentation.  Almost anything is better than getting up in front of a group of people.  In fact, many consider public speaking to be one of life’s most frightening events. 

Here are a few ideas to help you think about how to screw up your next presentation.  If you’d rather not do presentations, just try these out and be assured that you’ll never be invited back to speak again.