Content Creation - Baseline
Home arrow Content Creation arrow 7 Ways to Ruin a PowerPoint Presentation

7 Ways to Ruin a PowerPoint Presentation
By Ericka Chickowski on 2009-04-15


PowerPoint is not inherently evil, but it sure feels that way when you are trapped in the audience for a bad presentation.

Some people just don't get the concept. You know who we’re talking about - the folks who read each slide, word for word, instead of leveraging the illustrative and explanatory power of the medium.

But even the best of speakers look bad when they are accompanied by amateurish slide decks. If you've ever fallen prey to any of these blunders, it is time to think about revising your next presentation’s slides.
  • of
PowerPoint is not inherently evil, but it sure feels that way when you are trapped in the audience for a bad presentation. Some people just don't get the concept. You know who we're talking about - the folks who read each slide, word for word, instead of leveraging the illustrative and explanatory power of the medium.But even the best of speakers look bad when they are accompanied by amateurish slide decks. If you’ve ever fallen prey to any of these blunders, it is time to think about revising your next presentation's slides.

1. Slides as Scripts

There is nothing worse than a robotic presenter reading her PowerPoint presentation verbatim.

2. Wordiness

If you can't say it in one breath, it's probably too much text for one slide.

3. Art Overload

Too many pictures and graphics cause crowding and confusion.

4. Flowcharts that Don't Flow

Does that crazy graphic whipped up by your engineers actually make sense to the typical non-techie?

5. Color Clash

Want to make an audience queasy Mix purple, green and pink graphics together on that page.

6. Super Font Mania

Including six different fonts within a single slide deck doesn't make you look creative, just indecisive.

7. Grainy Graphics

Snagging that that perfect photo doesn't help if it looks bad on-screen.

8. Spelling and Grammatical Errors

Even if you hire a professional designer you'll torpedo your reputation if you can't spell.

9. Bonus Parody PowerPoint

If you don't get the joke, you probably shouldn't give PowerPoint Go to http://norvig.com/Gettysburg or click the image to view the page

  • More slideshows

  
LATEST STORIES
- Five Ways to Put Mobile Technology to Work
- Ten iPhone Apps that Will Save You Money
- Mobility Transforms the Customer Relationshi...
- BPM Keeps Pace With Business Changes
- Speech Recognition Speaks To Businesses

rss graphic
       Baseline Newsletters

 

 

Baseline:  

Issue Index | Contact Us | About | Magazine Customer Service | Navigation Guide

Quick Links:  

Project Planners | Enterprise Resource Planning | Network and Online Security | Data Analysis | Process Management | Storage Devices| Link to Us

Ziff Davis Enterprise Home | Contact Us | Advertise | Link to Us | Reprints | Magazine Subscriptions | Newsletters
Tech RSS Feeds | White Papers | Tech Podcasts | Tech Video | VARs | System Builder

Baseline | Careers | Channel Insider | CIO Insight | DesktopLinux | DeviceForge | DevSource | eSeminars |
eWEEK | Enterprise Network Security | LinuxDevices | Linux Watch | Microsoft Watch | Mid-market | Networking | PDF Zone |
Publish | Security IT Hub | Strategic Partner | TechDirect | Technology White Papers | Windows for Devices

Developer Shed | Dev Shed | ASP Free | Dev Articles | Dev Hardware | SEO Chat | Tutorialized | Scripts |
Code Walkers | Web Hosters | Dev Mechanic | Dev Archives | igrep

Use of this site is governed by our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Copyright ©1996-2012 Ziff Davis Enterprise Holdings Inc. All Rights Reserved. eWEEK and Spencer F. Katt are trademarks of Ziff Davis Enterprise Holdings, Inc. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff Davis Enterprise Inc. is prohibited.