Summary: AI risks & rewards – the price of poor presentation skills. Australia’s top persuasion expert warns that relying on AI for presentations isn’t enough. Businesses are losing millions due to unclear messaging, weak delivery, and poor persuasion skills in the boardroom.
Sydney, Australia – 11-06-2025 – With AI tools like ChatGPT revolutionising workplace communication, many Australian professionals are turning to technology to prepare their business presentations. However, leading persuasion expert Michelle Bowden warns that this growing trend is no substitute for human impact – and poor presentation skills are quietly costing companies millions.
A recent LinkedIn survey found that up to 70% of business presentations fail to achieve their intended outcome. Common reasons include unclear structure, weak delivery, and low audience engagement – areas AI cannot effectively address. Bowden, a Certified Speaking Professional and author of the best-selling book How to Present, says the over reliance on technology masks a growing skill gap in real-world persuasion.
“Technology can assist with writing and formatting, but it cannot replace the connection, credibility, and confidence that drive successful business presentations,” she says. “Impact is personal – not programmable.”
Bowden has worked with over 13,000 professionals across companies such as Westpac, Salesforce, RACV and many government agencies – and her clients’ results speak for themselves. One client secured $7.1 billion in funding after winning a high-stakes pitch. Another won a $700 million contract. “These things matter,” Bowden says. “What if you lose because you fail to connect with the decision makers in a compelling way?”
Through her in-demand presentation skills course, Bowden teaches people how to use AI to fast-track the writing of the script (or talk track) for the meeting but she uses physical teaching to help with the stagecraft and connection. Her goal is to skill people in how to influence with integrity using practical formulas, templates and techniques drawn from psychology, behavioural science and the over 13,000 business people she’s mentored.
Both in-person presentation courses in Sydney and flexible presentation skills courses online are available, meeting the growing demand for persuasive communication skills in today’s hybrid workplace.
With AI continuing to evolve, Bowden believes the most successful professionals will be those who pair tech tools with timeless human connection. “AI may help you write faster, but it can’t help you win hearts and minds. That’s where real presenters shine.”
About Michelle Bowden Enterprises:
Michelle Bowden Enterprises is a leading provider of persuasive presentation training, helping professionals across industries influence with confidence and clarity.
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©2025 MICHELLE BOWDEN is an authority on persuasive presenting in business. She’s run her Persuasive Presentation Skills Masterclass over 1000 times for more than 13,000 people over the past 26 years and her name is a synonym for ‘presentation skills’ in Australia.
Michelle Bowden is a multi-million-dollar pitch coach to her client list that reads like a who’s who of international business: banking and finance, IT, pharmaceutical, retail, telecommunications plus many more.
Michelle is the creator of the Persuasion Smart Profile®, a world-first psychological assessment tool that reports on your persuasive strengths and weaknesses at work, the best-selling internationally published author of How to Present: the ultimate guide to presenting live and online (Wiley) and her new best-selling book is called How to Persuade: the skills you need to get what you want (Wiley).