Delivering a pitch or presentation? Here's a preflight checklist to help you on your way

Why This Matters

Let’s be honest: few things induce sweaty palms faster than the prospect of standing in front of a room, or, heaven forbid, a webcam, about to deliver a big pitch or presentation. Whether you’re eyeing up your first funding round, battling to win that dream client, or simply hoping to make your weekly team update less of a chore, the art of a great presentation is one of those critical business skills that can shape your future.

If you are unprepared, you don’t just lose a bit of pride. You waste hours in lost preparation, lose credibility, and in the worst cases, miss real opportunities. An undercooked pitch can unravel months of work in less time than it takes for your laptop to demand yet another update.

Think of presentations as take-off in an old Cessna. Get the preflight checks right, and you’ll enjoy a smooth cruise. Miss one vital detail, and you’ll spend your time frantically pushing buttons, hoping nothing falls off mid-air.

This checklist is for anyone tired of winning applause for “bravery” rather than clarity, and who wants systematic, practical steps to deliver every presentation like a pro.

Common Pitfalls

If it makes you feel any better, even the best have tripped over the basics. Here are the usual banana skins as well as the misleading advice that sends people flying:

• Arriving as the meeting starts and using your audience’s patience as a warm-up act while you fix the projector or reconnect to WiFi. (Bonus points if the culprit is “the dongle”).
• Treating your audience like furniture. Not bothering to notice if they’re alive, asleep, or in a state of caffeine withdrawal until halfway through the second slide.
• Icebreakers that freeze everyone solid, like asking for “one interesting fact” from people who’d sooner wrestle a bear than speak aloud in public.
• Trusting the tech gods. PowerPoint says the display is fine, but when you hit “present”, your carefully crafted pie chart resembles modern art.
• Assuming you’ll ‘wing it’ because you did it last time, right? Spoiler: Murphy’s Law loves a repeat performance.
• Panic at the audience Q&A. Nothing brings out the cold sweats quite like a question you can only answer with a panicked, “Let me get back to you…?”

If you recognise your own pre-presentation ritual in this list, you’re in good company. The good news is that all of these are conquerable with a bit of foresight, some preparation, and a dash of Pixelhaze magic.

Step-by-Step Fix

Here's your trusty preflight checklist, well-tested on the front lines of workshops, boardrooms, and more than a few village halls where the biscuits were the only thing holding the meeting together.

1. Arrive Early—and Really Early

You might not be a natural early bird, but in presentations, being set up ten minutes before “go time” is essential. Not five. Not “as people are logging in.” A proper ten.

Use this window to:

• Power up all devices (and check plugs are within surviving distance).
• Open your slides, notes, websites—anything you’ll need, with click-to-find confidence.
• Test that the AV kit actually works (see: “surviving distance” above).
• Take a breath, read through your intro, and collect your thoughts out loud if the room is blessedly empty.

2. Know Your Audience and Meet Them Where They Are

It’s tempting to think of your audience as faceless, identical rectangles either in a meeting room or blinking back at you on Zoom. This approach often backfires.

Spend a moment to assess the human beings on the receiving end. Are they wide awake, fuelled by the company’s industrial-strength coffee? Nodding politely, despite secretly writing their shopping list? Or perhaps visibly ready to revolt after a morning of back-to-back meetings?

If you can, chat with a couple of attendees as they join, virtually or live. Ask about their day or the last session. This micro-connection gives you an immediate read on their mood and energy, which you can tap in your opening lines.

3. Break the Ice Without Freezing the Room

The awkward cricket chirp of a cold room is every presenter’s arch-nemesis. You want engagement, not an interrogation.

Avoid classics like, “Everyone say your name and a fun fact,” unless you’re secretly auditioning for the next series of ‘The Office’.

Try something low-risk and gently interactive:

• Share a surprising visual and ask for group guesses (think, “Who’s spotted the arrow in the FedEx logo?”).
• Poll the group (hands up, cameras on): “How many of you have delivered a presentation that went sideways? Be honest, I’ll go first.”
• Ideally, link your opener directly to your core topic.

No one wants to be picked on in the first five minutes, so keep it collective.

4. Master the Tech and Don’t Trust It

The truth is, the more important the presentation, the more likely your tech is to betray you. To avoid disaster, make sure you check your equipment thoroughly.

Here are the essentials to check off, every time:

In-person:

• Is your laptop connected (to power, because battery “should be fine” is famous last words)?
• AV lead and cables: plugged and happy?
• Microphone (if using): and you can hear yourself, not the feedback squeal?
• Slides: projecting properly, not showing your email inbox to all and sundry?
• Internet: working? If not, do you have a backup plan?

Remote:

• Internet connection: “fast enough” is good, “rock solid” is better.
• Microphone: not muted, not picking up the neighbour’s dog.
• Webcam: is your head in shot, or just a close-up of your ceiling?
• Screen share: have you tested sharing the right window, not, say, your WhatsApp chat?

5. Know Your Onions

Yes, yes. The phrase gets a giggle, but there’s wisdom inside. If you’re not confident you can answer basic questions on your topic, it’ll show in your body language, your voice, and most painfully, during Q&A.

Even if you’ve presented the material before, refresh your knowledge with a read-through. Be clear on:

• The key idea or “take-home” for today’s audience (not last week’s group).
• What’s changed since you last checked (a stat, a regulation, even a local example)?
• Pattern questions: what are you most often asked in this context? Are there new objections or concerns people are likely to raise?

If you truly don’t know something, don’t bluff. Audiences spot a waffler a mile off.

6. Preparation and Practice Lead to Progress

Once you’ve delivered one good presentation, complacency creeps in. Fight it. Aim for your personal best every time.

Preparation involves more than slide decks; it’s about knowing your flow. Where’s the joke? Where’s the story? Where might you lose people? Practise tricky transitions or data points out loud—or, if you’re brave, record yourself and play it back. (I promise, it gets less excruciating.)

Visualising your PB (personal best) can be just as helpful for presenters as it is for athletes. Mentally rehearse how you’ll open, handle curveball questions, and close convincingly.

What Most People Miss

People spend hours fiddling with slide animations or searching for a quote that hasn’t been trotted out since 2009. The real trick of top presenters has less to do with polish and more to do with empathy and adaptability.

• The best presenters constantly pay attention to the room, making on-the-fly adjustments to tone, pacing, and even content to match the mood.
• They show vulnerability by admitting when they don’t know it all, gaining trust instead of embarrassment.
• Most importantly, they focus on the audience’s needs, not just their own checklist.

This subtle knack for treating the audience as living, thinking humans can transform a good pitch into an unforgettable one.

The Bigger Picture

Mastering presentations leads to more than just fewer cold sweats and smoother meetings. It lays invisible groundwork that pays off across your entire career:

• Time saved: Cut hours spent fixing last-minute blunders or damaged relationships caused by fluffed details.
• Reputation built: Reliable presenters build trust with clients, bosses, and colleagues through consistency, not bravado.
• Momentum gained: Each good pitch builds confidence for the next, creating a virtuous spiral of opportunity.

Keep in mind, the skills you hone on small local projects serve as the bedrock for bigger opportunities down the road. Before long, presenting can become something you enjoy, not simply something you endure.

Wrap-Up

Checklists aren’t glamorous, but they make all the difference between an audience glued to your every word and one sneakily replying to emails under the table.

If you’re prepared, tuned in to your audience, double-checked your tech, and comfortable to say, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out,” you’ll set yourself up to deliver your best, every single time.

Want more helpful systems like this? Join Pixelhaze Academy for free at https://www.pixelhaze.academy/membership.

Related Reading:

• [Canva Box of Tricks: Mastering slide design, the Pixelhaze way]
• [Ten Questions Every Pitch Deck Must Answer]
• [How to Plan a Workshop People Actually Remember]

Have a tip of your own or a horror story to share? We’re all ears (and possibly snacks) on the Academy forums.

Keep checking back for the launch of our full Presentation Skills course, coming soon to Pixelhaze Academy and Udemy, where we share more handy hacks, embarrassing confessions, and unfiltered advice from presenters who have been through it all.