7 PowerPoint Presentation Mistakes

Microsoft PowerPoint is the software of choice for many when it comes to making a presentation to students, employees, project team members, and the like. As with other similar presentation packages, it offers many useful features and functions. The downside is that in too many presentations, technology takes center stage, diverting the presenter into the role of a supporting act. We’ve all witnessed performances that seemed designed to help us catch up on sleep and others that were a whirlwind, “full of noise and fury, meaning nothing.”

Over the years of witnessing hundreds of performances, I’ve seen my fair share of yawning promoters and teacup storms. As a professional trainer, I thought: Why not condense the most common mistakes I’ve seen and draw some useful lessons that we can all benefit from? Here are my top seven PowerPoint annoyances, and what we can learn from each to improve our own performance.

1. Not telling participants the purpose of the session

You know what kind of presentation I’m talking about. From one slide to the next, you have little to no idea where the presentation is going. You wonder if you should have shown up. Eliminate the guessing game by letting your audience know upfront the purpose of your session and how you plan to achieve it.

2. Overdose of information to the participants

Novice presenters often suffer from the illusion that some content is good, so more is better. With this mindset, these presenters cram as much as possible onto each slide, filling it out with font sizes as small as 10 point. Help your participants avoid eye strain and maintain interest by using plenty of white space and font sizes large enough to read from the back row. Add tables, charts, and other graphics to your slides to help understand your message.

3. Avoid personal interaction with the audience

Some presenters show discomfort revealing their personalities. They hide their backs to the audience, read every word on every slide, and avoid eye contact by burying themselves in their notes. Listening to the presenter’s words and reading them at the same time not only slows down learning, but also robs the presentation of the presenter’s personality. Participants yearn to interact with the speaker and not just be read to. So take the time to turn off your slideshow and put down your notes to make a connection with your audience. Use plenty of eye contact and generate interest with your voice and body language.

4. Show as many slides as possible

In an effort to overcome large volumes of material, inexperienced presenters try to break records by showing the most slides in the shortest amount of time. As time begins to tick down, the pace of the presentation increases until each slide seems blurry. To avoid giving participants a headache, allow about five minutes per slide. If time is short, delete less important slides.

5. Distribute copies of the slides before the session

You may think it’s an advantage if the presenter gives you a copy of their presentation before it starts. In fact, listening to the presentation while trying to follow the sequence in your brochure only impedes your understanding. Avoid handing out copies of the slides until after the presentation. Giving participants a pencil and paper before the session begins will be more helpful to them as they write notes in their own words.

6. Neglecting the delivery of support materials

Effective slides contain only the key messages, with the presenter filling in the details. Presenters who only hand out a copy of the slides can leave many participants baffled days or weeks later as they try to remember what each bullet point means. At the appropriate time during the presentation, hand out supporting materials that allow participants to use the information you presented after they leave. You could distribute bibliographies, instructions or diagrams, for example.

7. Use a mix of slide transition effects

Some presenters are so enamored with technology that they feel like you’ll be a better person experiencing every “wow” effect in the package. You find yourself reaching for your motion sickness tablets after you’ve seen slides collide, slide, spin, dissolve… Help your participants stay focused on the message by using just one or two slide transition effects. Remember, your audience came to see and hear you, not a special effects show.

How many bloopers did you recognize? How many have you committed? Now pick one or two of the worst mistakes you’ve ever made and commit to eradicating them in your next presentation. Once you are satisfied that you have mastered those, select the next one or two practices to improve. Ask your participants how they are doing. Over time, by concentrating on your key areas of improvement, you’ll be regarded as a PowerPoint master.