Most Common PowerPoint Mistakes

1. Most Common PowerPoint Mistakes By Mr. Kling Full Disclosure: This presentation is adapted (largely plagiarized) from Don McMillan, without his knowledge or consent.

2. Too Many Words on a Slide • People tend to put every word they are going to say on their PowerPoint slides. Although this eliminates the need to memorize your talk, this ultimately makes your slides crowded, difficult to read (especially for the visually impaired and those sitting at the back of the room), unsightly, unprofessional, wordy and boring. You will lose your audience’s attention before you even reach the bottom of your…

3. (continued)… first slide

4. Spelling Errors • Many people do not run spellcheek before their presentation. BIG MASTAK! Nuthing will make yu loock less prufessional than spellin errers. • This is both distracting and undermines the credibility of your presentation. • Note: If it has a red line under it, recheeck the spellin.

5. Avoid Excessive Bullet Pointing Only Bullet Key Points. Too Many Bullet Points And Your Key Messages Will Not Stand Out. In Fact, The Term “Bullet Point” Comes From People Pointing Bullets At Annoying presenters. Too Many Bullet Points

6. Bad Color Schemes • Clashing background and font colors can lead to: • Distraction • Confusion • Headache • Nausea • Vomiting • Loss of bladder control

7. Presentation is Too Long

8. Too Much Information on Graphs

9. No Titles and Labels on Graphs

10. Too Much Animation • Simple but effective • Distracting • Active but confusing • Effective but boring • Active yet ineffective • Busy but useless • ADD only • Useful and amusing • Sleepy Square • Bermuda Triangle • Dizzying Pentagon • Pointless motion

11. Poor Choice of Font • The font you choose says something about who you are as a person. • There are hundreds of fonts. • You choose one. • That says something about YOU. • Examples: • If you choose Courier New, you are probably organized and structured.

12. Poor Choice of Font (continued) • If you choose Gigi, it means you are artistic. • If you choose Comic Sans, you are a free spirit. • If you choose Arial, you are a fierce devotee of Apple computers. • If you choose Times New Roman, you are lazy, apathetic, unimaginative and you always use the default on your PC.