At the center of any great presentation is an engaging and informative set of slides that perfectly accompany the spoken words coming out of your mouth. Because of stage fright, many people prioritize practicing their speaking over nailing their PowerPoint presentation. This leads to common mistakes that many presenters seem to make when it comes to crafting PowerPoint slides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But you don\u2019t want to be like everyone else, right? You want your presentation to stand out. So, allow us to walk you through some of the most common mistakes we see people make with their presentations, whether at work or in a class, and what you can do to fix them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps the most common mistake people make is including too much text in their slides. A PowerPoint presentation is just that, a presentation. It isn\u2019t meant to be a fully informative document. The slides are meant to sum up the information, highlight key details and ultimately complement you as the presenter. Most of your presentation should be you speaking about the slides.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you feel like you just can\u2019t cut back on your slide text, then consider a different medium for conveying the information. Perhaps a PDF or other type of file is better suited for the more thorough content you\u2019re trying to make. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to fix it:<\/strong> Cut out everything except the most important details. Stick to numbers and\/or straight facts. You can provide more context when you present it to your classmates or coworkers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n [Read more: How Much Text on a Slide is Too Much?<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Making that first mistake often leads to making this second mistake as well. When you have too much text on your slides it becomes too tempting to rely on it for all your speaking. Many presenters will simply read from the text on the slide instead of putting things into their own words or providing additional context. Your audience can see and read what is on the slide already… you don\u2019t need to read it for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How to fix it:<\/strong> Limit your slide text using the tips above, but also, practice your presentation ahead of time so you have some idea of what to say. Jotting down speaker notes<\/a> is helpful for this.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n It doesn\u2019t matter what content is at the heart of your presentation… if your overall design looks unprofessional or sloppy, your presentation is likely going to come across as such. Now, you probably don\u2019t have time to work on your slide design skills before your next presentation, but if you do, consider checking out some basic tips from Harvard<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nReading Directly from Slides\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Poor Design\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n