"Hate Participation So Bad" — Teacher Shares Signs She Knows a Presentation Will Suck

A teacher shared the ominous premonitions at the start of professional development workshop discussions that let her know she will hate a presentation.

Meredith McKenzie (@meredithymckenzie) posted a viral TikTok delineating these "icks" as she calls them. And numerous folks who replied agreed that they, too, had a mutual hatred for many of the items she discussed. As of this writing, the TikToker's clip has accrued over 1.6 million views on the popular mobile application.

Meredith begins her video with a text overlay announcing the thesis of her clip. "Three ways I can tell a presentation is going to be bad within 10 seconds," she writes. She elaborates further in the narration of her video. "OK, here's my top three icks if I presenter starts their presentation with any of these I already know I'm gonna hate it and probably hate them," she opines.

Next, she rattles off the initial sign that she's not going to like what a presenter is about to say in their talk. Following this, she pantomimes holding a microphone and says, "So number one, if they say, good morning everybody." Then, she gives a pause and then indicates the person holding the microphone wasn't satisfied with the response they're getting from the crowd.

"Oh come we can do better than that." The TikToker then repeats the phrase louder, mocking this type of crowd-amping tactic presenters will often employ to try and get listeners more fired up.

"Good morning, everybody! Shut up. Just shut up. OK stop trying to hype me up, I already don't want to be here. Zip it. OK?"

This faux-positivity and grown-up version of a Dora the Explorer episode isn't the only recurring presentation trope that grinds Meredith's gears either. She says, "If they're having microphone issues and it like they get a little feedback and then they go you know I don't even need to use this. You guys can hear me, right?"

Again, she mocks the kind of personality a person who employs this type of talking point in the middle of their group discussions. "Just use the microphone, okay? And stop thinking that being loud is like, I just, I hate it. I hate it."

Afterwards, Meredith then gets into the third biggest pet peeve she regularly experiences while having to sit through a presentation.

"Number three, and this is probably universal. Anything that starts with I know we're tired, and I know everybody just wants to sit and listen, OK? But if you could stand up." Meredith then holds her hand out in front of her neck like this Jonah Hill "cut it out" meme.

"Immediately no," she says. "OK? I will not stand up. And I will not engage in whatever activity you're forcing me to do. I don't care what the research says. Don't make us, stand, up. And. Do. Anything," she says, accenting each of her words as she shares just how little she wants to get up out of her chair during a presentation. Especially at a speaker's request.

"I just want to sit here and get this over with. Thank you," she says into the camera before the video ultimately comes to a close.

When having to put together a presentation, you don't just have to worry about speaking but sometimes, an accompanying slideshow can annoy your audiences, too.

Presentation firm John Polk and Associates released a list of "10 presentation design pet peeves" that folks should consider whenever they're putting together PowerPoint/Keynotes and the like. The firm first recommends staying away from placing massive walls of text on a slide, to the point where audiences feel deluged by the information before them.

Furthermore, inconsistent formatting across the presentation communicates an "amateur hour" aesthetic and could turn off folks in the crowd. Think of how Apple's shows are formatted. There's a simple, unified design language across all of the slides that strictly conveys vital talking points.

Forbes echoed some weary "mistakes" presenters will often do whilst presenting to an audience utilizing a PowerPoint file. Like reading, verbatim, what is presented on the slide.

Furthermore, there's a deeper problem the business-centric outlet honed in on, and that's "building the wrong agenda."

This bullet point the website speaks to directly relates to the problem that Meredith touches on in her TikTok. And it's that the speaker comes into the presentation demanding a certain response from the audience that is centered, more or less, about satisfying them emotionally.

They want folks to "appreciate all the work [their] team did," or that they want someone to buy their product. Instead of focusing on the information at hand, and how this can benefit them.

Additionally, Forbes says that folks should re-frame their thoughts about presentations. These aren't just mere data dumps, but should be a "two-way dialogue" by asking engaging questions that are pertinent to the matter at hand and the implications for whatever industry you're in.

I.e., being interested in the situation and topics, rather than getting the audience to behave a certain way will almost always lead to you having a better time while on stage.