Looking at the panels this year, there really has been this general sense of disappointment in how they have gone. Even aside from the Umair Haque Incident, panels suffered from a syndrome of poor presentation, poor preparedness, and lack of engagement. Of course, there were some gems, but I expect SXSW to skew heavily on the side of hits vs misses. This year the balance seemed skewed to the point where we missed more than hit altogether.

Dynamic speaking is not an easy task. It takes experience and time to learn how to engage and audience. It also takes the right environment. Being an authoritative expert in any given subject, or having written one or more books, does not automatically give you the ability to effectively share that knowledge in front of the audience. Believe me, it’s a mistake to think that the subject content alone will ever be enough to keep an audience interested. Here’s a rundown of the things that I think both SXSW and the presenters in general could have done better.

1. Setup Setup Setup

SXSW panels are set up much like news conference tables. A long table, featuring a number of panelists. The difference is, the folks in the audience are not journalists, they aren’t paid to listen to you or be interested. And in many of these formats the SXSW is emulating, the people behind the table have been exposed to a certain amount of public speaking and engagement. Or are mercifully short. I can honestly say that there is no personal bias in the fact that I preferred the setup used for interviews in the Pepsi Podcast Playground. High stools, no tables. A brief and prepared moderator. It created an open atmosphere, and felt more informal. The panelist felt like they could be free to express themselves with body language, which is an important part of speaking dynamically, but which tables largely made impossible.

Additionally, many workshops and talks had either a single presenter, or presenters who presented at a podium one at a time, with no interaction. There are a few formats that would have fit this better, from an empty stage with a single stool that allowed the presenter to walk and engage, to a series of stool chairs and notebook podiums connected to a KVM to allow them to present while maintaining the open feeling. I would recommend that SXSW rethink some of the ways it does panels, and perhaps realize that investment in some new formatting would be healthy for the festival in the long run.

2. Interactive Abhors An Informational Slide

And not just informational slides. But slides laden with text, or with Excel graphics, or with Microsoft standard clipart. And pretty much any slide that isn’t some combination of a monkey playing with a cat. In this day and age, there is almost nothing that needs to be said that can’t be said with either an infographic, or directly with your mouth. If you find that you’re reading a lot off the slides, you may either need significant more practice giving the speech to real friends and colleague or to significantly re-examine your level of expertise.

If you don’t feel as though you are an effective speaker, you can practice your speech with friends, family, or colleagues. The key to becoming an effective speaker is to learn the material cold, so you can focus on the presentation without thinking. Anecdotes are always wonderful, but avoid too many jokes unless you are confident of your humor. A bum joke can turn a room cold.

If you feel you are dynamic but simply a bit short on the useful parts of a topic, engage leaders and find out their opinion! Don’t let the chance to give an exciting presentation or panel go by the wayside. Get the facts you need to reach your goal. But make sure they are true, because people care about facts.

3. Nobody Cares About Facts

That is, if your job is to give an opinion. Your Panel, New VisualJava C+-Sharp Is The Best FrameWork In The Universe: A Truthiness Presentation, probably isn’t going to be received as well if the title isn’t actually being ironic. When you attempt to present your opinion as facts, you tend to create a situation where you simply accept what you are presenting as a foregone conclusion, rather than a persuasive argument. When you lose site of a the need for a persuasive argument, you lose sight of the need to engage your audience.

4. Your Body Is A Wonderland, and a Pretty Good Presentation Tool

While a fantastic slideshow and plentiful facts can be an excellent set of tools for a presentation, never underestimate the value of simple body language in the mix. Moving amongst the crowd, ranging the stage, using your body to interact with the presentation or equipment, all of these things can bring a presentation up to the next level. And while we’re on the subject, don’t be afraid to use your audiences bodies in your presentation as well. Make them stand up, give them the mic, ask them questions, and get asked in return. You are the conductor of your presentation, and psychology studies have shown that crowds tend to view good presenters as not only experts, but as authority figures. Use that to your advantage to create a presentation that is memorable.

5. Enjoy The Silence, but On Your Own Time

Things happen. Yes, you’ll have lapses in wi-fi coverage, and your computer will go down, or you’ll have disruptions from time to time. This is the nature of presentation. When it does occur, find something to fill the space, because silence is about as interesting as…well, silence. Inevitably, the worst case will happen, your presentation will crash, and you will be on your own. If you know your material cold, this should be no problem, but at the same time, it is important to deflect and minimize the importance of the problems you experience. Don’t wait silently while the wi-fi reconnects. Don’t fumble too long getting your presentation up and running again. Just pick it up and keep going. Make a joke, lighten the mood, given people a reason to stick with you.

Obviously, the art of becoming a dynamic speaker isn’t instantaneously acquired. It takes a lot of bad presentations, speeches, or panels to get to good, and a lot of good to get to great. Take local opportunities to deliver to whomever will listen. But remember, SXSW is not the right venue for your first time speaking gig, no matter your expertise. Delivering a disappointing presentation or panel locally, and it’s likely soon to be forgotten. But give a bad interview with a social media CEO, and it will live on the Twitterverse forever.