Fear is real, and there are a couple of common things people fear.

A survey revealed that people’s two biggest fears are public speaking and death. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld landed a joke about the survey when he said, “Most people would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy.”

It’s funny because it’s true. Most people despise the idea of public speaking.

But coaching leaders, I have noticed something more concerning about public speaking. While some leaders fear presenting, an equally dangerous group exists on the other end of the spectrum. A lot of leaders don’t mind public speaking and others love it. The problem is that many of those leaders believe they are already good or even great at it, when they aren’t. Their confidence is misplaced. They confuse willingness with effectiveness.

This came alive for me while watching a few senior leaders present at an internal company event. Good and smart professionals with real experience and ideas to share. But the presentations were hard to watch and even harder to stay focused on. One opened by saying, “I’m nervous.” Another spent her time talking to her slides instead of the room. A third had information stacked on top of more information, with slides clearly built by AI, with errors abound.

Nobody told them or coached them. And they walked off the stage thinking it went pretty well. This is a real problem because a single presentation can change the trajectory of a team or an individual’s career. Instead of looking at them as rising stars, an argument could be made that the opposite could be inferred.

Now, this isn’t to take away from the courage required to get up in front of an audience. But it was evident that with more preparation and some coaching, they would have knocked it out of the park. This is a good reminder for all of us who have the opportunity to present anything.

It’s disrespectful to make people listen if you haven’t prepared.

The Gap Between Confidence and Competence

Presentation skills sit in a dangerous blind spot for most leaders. Unlike other leadership skills like vision creation, relationship building, or decision making, presenting feels natural. Leaders communicate constantly in team meetings, boardrooms, and all-hands sessions. The repetition creates the illusion of improvement.

But repetition without feedback doesn’t build skill. It just reinforces habits, good or bad. To build real skill requires a 3-part formula: insight, effort, and feedback.

The leaders who grow as presenters and get the outcome they desire are the ones who have insight to share, prepare with extreme effort, and then seek feedback.

The 3 Types of Presenters

Since leadership is more art than science, leaders can be introverted or extroverted. They are women and men. They are quiet and loud. However, after watching leaders across industries, most fall into one of three categories when presenting.

The Informer

The Informer knows their content cold. Their slides are detailed, their data is accurate, and their preparation is thorough. However, they confuse information transfer with communication. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, but it can be boring. The audience might even learn something, but feel nothing. Their presentations are forgettable, not because they couldn’t be better or because their content is weak, but because nothing makes it stick.

The Rambler

The Rambler has real experience and genuine passion. When it lands, it’s magnetic. But without structure, the audience works too hard to follow. They leave inspired by the energy but unclear on the point. The Rambler’s biggest blind spot is thinking passion is enough. While it’s better than someone who doesn’t care, passion without structure is just noise with enthusiasm.

The Inspirer

The Inspirer knows their content and their audience. They don’t present at people, they present for them. They use story, tension, and intentional moments to connect ideas to emotions. They take chances by using authenticity to show their true self. The audience doesn’t just remember a few of the things they said — they remember how it made them feel.

Now no leader is one type of presenter all the time. There may be times when you have a little of each in a presentation. However, holistically, most leaders are Informers. Some are Ramblers. Few are Inspirers. But here’s what matters: great communicators and presenters aren’t born. They’re built. Which means, however you present today can be improved in the future. Take the free quiz to find out your presentation style.

What Inspirers Do Differently

The best presenters share one obsession: they are not focused on themselves. They are focused on the people in the room. They think of themselves as a lighthouse, not a spotlight. They don’t do it to be the star of the show but to share light with others to help them on their journey.

Jess Ekstrom had a great idea. She challenges the speaker to ask themselves two questions when preparing to deliver an effective talk.

• What do I know?
• What does my audience already know — or what do they need to know?

The entire job of a great presentation is to fill that gap clearly, memorably, and in a way that moves people to action or shifts their thinking. A great way to do this is to use stories instead of facts. The reason is a principle from Lead the Room: Equipping Leaders to Present with Clarity, Confidence, and Impact.

Stories stick. Facts fade.

Information alone rarely changes behavior. But a story that connects an idea to an emotion lands differently. It creates a moment the audience carries with them long after the presentation ends — so much so that they could be speaking to someone weeks later and recite the story they heard as a way to explain your entire presentation.

Closing

Presentations are not just a communication skill. They are a leadership skill. Every time you step in front of people, you are either building credibility or quietly eroding it. You are either developing trust or evaporating it. If you can lead a room by moving people to action, you have an advantage that compounds over time.

Your next presentation could change someone’s mind. It could move a stalled initiative forward. It could change your career. The question isn’t whether presenting matters. The question is: what kind of presenter are you — and what kind do you aspire to be?

What’s Your Presentation Style: Take the 2 min quiz to learn what your current presentation style is. Take it for Free Here

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About the Author: John Eades is the CEO of LearnLoft and The Sales Infrastructure. He was named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices. John is also the author of Building the Best and the Optimistic Outlook