What Makes a Bad Presentation on PowerPoint? Things to Avoid

The Internet is full of tips and tricks to make amazing presentations. You can easily find hundreds of tips for great presentations. But have you ever wondered what makes a bad presentation? What are the common mistakes to avoid while making PowerPoint presentations?

There are certain things to avoid in presentations that most people find negligible. Remember that small details add value to your presentation, and ignoring common mistakes can result in a bad presentation.

If you don’t want to be embarrassed in front of the audience, avoid making common mistakes in PowerPoint presentations.

What Makes a Bad Presentation?

No single factor is responsible for making a bad presentation because many small mistakes add up to affect the quality of your slides. Our editors have reviewed many PowerPoint presentation samples, and here are some common mistakes in most PPTs.

These are some common mistakes that we don’t want you to repeat, ever again. 

1.     Lack of Preparation

You are a great speaker, have confidence, and amazing communication skills. But have you prepared for the specific event that’s due in the next two days? You will be standing in front of a knowledgeable audience without preparation, and when they ask questions, you will regret not practicing.

Before presenting slides, every teacher, marketer, instructor, or even an experienced presenter must practice. There are some questions that you need to answer before the event:

• Who is the audience?
• What is the knowledge level of the participants?
• What do they care about?
• What type of action do you want them to take after the presentation?
• How can I connect with them on a personal level?

2.     Poor Slide Structure

Mixed-up information will be hard to process, and your audience won’t be able to grasp the most important points. Slides should be structured smartly so that viewers can easily identify the problem and solution.

You can start by describing the problem, then discuss the challenges caused by that problem, and then offer your solution, product, or service. Adding images and other elements will also help with retention of the focus.

3.     Too Much Text on Slides

More information does not mean better communication in presentations. You are supposed to use PPT slides as a visual aid. Filling the slides with long paragraphs can result in a bad presentation. Only the most important information and text should go on the slides.

Use headings, sub-headings, tables, and bullet lists so viewers can easily process information. Adding images and infographics can deliver the same information in more engaging ways.

How to Find Images for PPT Slides?

If you are not sure how to find relevant or custom images for your PowerPoint slides, use the Twistly add-in. There is a built-in AI image generator in Twistly that can generate engaging and high-quality images within seconds for your slides.

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4.     Poor Layout and Formatting

Text is relevant, images are also engaging, but you don’t know how to arrange all these elements on the slide. The layout of slides is very important because a messed-up layout will divert the attention of your readers.

Do you have any prior experience making PowerPoint presentations? If not, then try readily available templates in PowerPoint, or you can also choose AI PowerPoint templates from the Twistly library.

AI PowerPoint Templates

Our designers and PowerPoint experts have designed these AI templates for maximum engagement. Every image, text box, heading, and other elements of the slide are responsive and flexible.

Without much effort, users can easily optimize and edit PowerPoint presentations with Twistly. You need to choose any template and color for the slides, and Twistly will handle formatting and layout optimization for the PowerPoint presentation.

5.     Overdoing Transitions and Animations

Animations, visual effects, and transitions are great for PowerPoint presentations, but overdoing them can affect the quality of the presentation. You can add morph transition to some slides or some other transitions without disrupting the professional slideshow.

Transitions and animations are not suitable for professional slides for executive presentations. Marketing presentations and other types of entertainment-related PPTs can use transitions more effectively.

6.     Misuse of Technology and AI

There are different online AI presentation makers available for beginners and professionals. But there is a catch: using online presentation makers does not offer the flexibility and customization options that PowerPoint does.

Relying on online AI PPT tools will be a mistake because of the wide acceptance of PowerPoint slides. You made a presentation with an online tool, but the computer at the event does not support that format. Now, you could avoid this mistake by using PowerPoint or asking the management for the exact configuration of the technology.

How to Avoid Common PowerPoint Presentation Mistakes?

These are only a few common mistakes that users make with PowerPoint presentations, because the list can be pretty long if we keep going. Now, the next question is how to avoid these common mistakes that make a bad presentation.

PowerPoint is a complex and powerful presentation tool, and mistakes are inevitable. The best suggestion is to use an AI add-in that can assist you at every step with automated solutions.

Download Twistly Add-in

Twistly is an AI add-in for PowerPoint that works just like ChatGPT for making slides. Users provide a topic or an AI prompt in natural language and then choose a PowerPoint template. Twistly will write content, add images, and format slides to generate a complete presentation for the user.

The chances of making common mistakes become thin, and every presentation proves to be a great opportunity to engage with the audience. Try Twistly for free for a limited time and then upgrade to the premium version to experience the full potential of ChatGPT for PowerPoint.

Create PowerPoint Slides with AI

Build AI-powered presentations from 
any prompt, doc, or video

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Conclusion

The lack of understanding of PowerPoint features makes a bad presentation, and avoiding these common mistakes can turn your slides into magic. Boring slides are not effective in this modern era, where audiences have very short attention spans.

Make use of every second and grab the attention of viewers with engaging AI PowerPoint presentations, made with Twistly.