(1544 words)

We have all experienced the terror of being trapped in a meeting with an out of control PowerPoint presentation. But when we are called on to present do we do any better? Here are my “dirty dozen” presentation faux pas and how you can avoid them and become a PowerPoint superstar.

12. Reading from the screen. Actually this is the top complaint from just about everyone who has suffered through a horrible PowerPoint presentation! So maybe it should be number one! When you project text on the screen, the audience will immediately begin to read it for themselves. When you, the speaker, begin to read the same text aloud there is a big disconnect between what the audience is reading and what they are hearing. Understanding and retention drops to almost zero. Plus it is simply insulting to your audience. They can read.

How to fix it: Know your material. Keep the focus on you and your words and then be well rehearsed. A presentation with visuals requires more time to prepare than one without. Let the visuals reinforce or illustrate your words instead of just mirroring them.

11. Not focusing on one message. It is easy to add in extra material and data that does not directly reinforce or illuminate your main goal. It’s just a few extra slides. The audience will be so impressed with your range of knowledge. In reality this extra information just clouds and confuses your main message.

How to fix it: Set your goal for this presentation in the beginning. Become a ruthless editor. If something – a slide, a piece of text or a graphic – does not directly support your goal or message, get rid of it or change it.

10. Cheap, juvenile graphics. They are everywhere. Microsoft includes thousands of them with PowerPoint plus they are free all over the web. Keep away from them – they make you look like an amateur or worse.

How to fix it: Use only the best graphics and photos you can find. There are a lot out there for free or that are very inexpensive. It sets a standard for professionalism that your audience will sense right from the start. There is nothing more impressive than a large, top-quality photograph that illustrates your spoken words without the need for any onscreen text.

9. Using charts and graphs that display too much data. More is worse in this case (as in most presentation graphics). And less is more. A graph filled with data on the screen is just confusing. There is a very low limit to how much information can be absorbed from the screen without boredom, confusion or worse.

How to fix it: Distill your charts and graphs to only the most essential data and relationships. The audience usually doesn’t need 20 data points to see the trend. Tell then of the trend, show them the final numbers and put the rest in the handout. Still your audience may need to have all the details to feel comfortable with your expertise and conclusions – that’s what handouts do best.

8. Writing your speech in PowerPoint. This is done so often. It is a true recipe for disaster. Your speech should almost be able to stand on its own without graphics. Using PowerPoint to write the speech will encourage you to create slide after slide of poorly coordinated text-heavy slides.

How to fix it: Shut down PowerPoint to write your initial speech – even to the point of keeping the computer off and writing it out on paper (do people still do that?). Or stick with a non-graphics program like Microsoft Word to get started. Then once you have the basic text without graphics, begin rehearsing and see where it might be appropriate to add a graphic or illustration to support for your words. Consider adding graphics to an existing, well-formed speech. Try using sticky notes on a wall to sketch out ideas about graphics and then move them around to test out different sequences.

7. Animated text, graphics and transitions. There seem to be a thousand ways to make text and graphics fly and zoom and magically appear on your screen. And another bazillion ways to transition from one slide to the next. Just about all of them will quickly make your audience hate you and everything you might want to say to them. Disney and Pixar know how to make this stuff work. You don’t.

How to fix it: Simply don’t use them. Any of them. Exception: a plain and very fast fade from one slide to the next can look professional; just about everything else is not going to work and will quickly alienate your audience.

6. Small type, busy backgrounds, and bad color combinations. Room and lighting conditions, the age of your audience, size of the type and the contrast between background, and type colors all affect the readability of the text on your slide.

How to fix it: Be kind to your audience. Err on the side of big, plain-type, and high-contrast color combinations. If they can’t read your words, it doesn’t matter what you say.

5. Leaving an old slide on the screen when you have moved on to the next subject. I have seen this a lot lately: the speaker has a great slide illustrating a major point in their presentation, they finish their discussion of that idea and then they move onto the next item, leaving the old, now inappropriate, slide on the screen. The audience immediately notices and becomes a little confused, distracted or amused.

How to fix it: The basic answer is to rehearse. Know your material and what is displayed on the screen at all times. Then you will build both your speech and your slide set with the correct coordination and transitions. Another, stopgap alternative is to use a clicker (remote) that allows you to black out the screen until your speech and slides have caught up with each other.

4. Using the wrong tool for the job. Your spoken words are best for delivering your message and thoughts. Visuals are best for delivering big ideas, emotions and reinforcing your verbal ideas. Handouts and manuals are best for transferring large amounts of detail to your audience.

How to fix it: Use each channel of communications to its best advantage. Use your words to deliver the big message, your slides to reinforce that message, and handouts to provide the details. It is a powerful 1-2-3 punch but needs to be coordinated, understood, and rehearsed.

3. PowerPoint data dump. We have all been victims of presentations filled with slide after slide of endless bulleted text. PowerPoint makes this type of speech preparation so easy. The night before, you take all of your information, dump it into a series of bullet-point slides in a fancy template, add some animation or simple graphics and you are done. To deliver, simply read from the screen. That is, of course, unless you want your audience to actually stay awake and get something from your presentation.

How to fix it: Adding visuals to a speech takes work – both in preparation and rehearsal. You have another channel of communication that needs to be coordinated with your words. It really involves a complete reordering of how you look at speech preparation. Build a good speech. Stay focused on your message. Edit and edit again. Then add visuals that enhance the overall goal of your presentation. If a visual fails to do that, then don’t use it. Finally, rehearse and rehearse some more.

2. Too much stuff on each slide. It is so easy to keep adding more ideas, more graphics, and more stuff to each slide. This just confuses your message.

How to fix it: Keep it simple. The simplest slides deliver your message more effectively than the complex. Simple slides add to and reinforce your spoken words rather than compete with them. The standard is 1 idea or main point per slide. Another standard is no more than 6-10 words per slide. That can be quite a challenge but it is a good concept to keep in mind as you are preparing your visuals.

1. Letting PowerPoint dominate the talk. This is by far the number one problem with most PowerPoint presentations – letting the visuals take over the presentation. It seems like a good idea: let the slides do the work and the speaker just has to guide the audience through them. But it is a terrible way to communicate.

How to fix it: Change how you see the roles of you as a speaker and your visuals. Your audience wants to hear your ideas, your point of view, and your interpretations. You are the star of the show. Try the 80-20 rule. Instead of letting your visuals take up 80% of impact of the presentation keep that power for yourself. Give PowerPoint the importance it deserves – 20%. Make sure it supports and not dominates what you are saying.

Finally: Don’t forget to be AMAZING!

o o o   Copyright © 2012 Tom Nixon Design   o o o

Tom Nixon, works with people who want to use visual business presentations (like PowerPoint) to connect with and motivate their audience. He has over 30 years experience as a graphic designer, writer and photographer working with clients of all sizes, ranging from 1-person entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 corporations.

Tom speaks and coaches about all aspects of presentation skills with a special emphasis on the combination of verbal delivery plus visuals (PowerPoint and Keynote). Contact Tom at tom@tomnixondesign.com or 770.289.0752.