There is an old axiom that people tend to use in many sports: the best offense is a good defense. This may hold true for many fields and situations, but such is not the case when it comes to public speaking. A great defense is never a great offense in this field.
What exactly does that mean? So many people go into a speech with a defensive mentality. They are harboring negative and defensive ideas in their mind such as, “Well, i better put this on the slide or i will be accused of leaving something out” or “I should spend two hours fixing this logo in the accurate plane or the marketing department is going to say that i was not up to code.”
Say you do follow all the rules set to you down to the T, but what are you left with in the end? Sure, you may have succeeded in not offending anyone but on the other hand, you end up with a speech that is not memorable or interesting as you were too busy following the regulations set for you perfectly.
The first priority for any presentation should not be how to avoid offending somebody. Your first priority should always be to figure out what it is that you want this audience to do, what are the ideas that are going to resonate with them, and how do i create a compelling story to tell. To make these ideas come alive, you need an offensive mentality with every speech. If you have a memorable message, a mistake or a blunder made in the process is likely to be quickly forgotten.