Is there death by powerpoint?
Yes. At least there may be a death of your idea. While this is an often used phrase, it is repeated for a reason. It is impossible to sound knowledgeable about your subject if you fail the basics of presentation.
The last couple of weeks I attended many presentations (perhaps too many). Some were excellent. This post will focus on those that weren’t.
Here are five sure ways to FAIL in getting your point across that I witnessed recently.
Don’t find the right slide
Watching someone flick back and forth among 4 or 5 slides trying to decide which one to use hurts my eyes and loses my interest.
Skip the reveals
Did you not practice? Are these not your slides? Slides that are set on a reveal and then clicked quickly through to show the complete slide make the audience wonder if you no longer think your points are important.
Forget the information
Turning away from the audience to read the slides. Do you not know your information? Is this the first time you’ve seen the slide?
Give us too much information
Everything is on one slide….everything. Some competitions limit the number of slides. That was not the case for these presentations. There is no reason to have every possible bit on information on one slide. Spread it out, give your audience a chance to internalize each point.
Don’t show you care
A presentation with no colour, no background, no pictures, just words on a white screen. Did you not care enough about your audience to create some interest for them? More importantly, did you not care about your idea enough to give it some support.
By following these five simply rules, you can ensure your idea does not get across, that your audience will not be won over, and that your presentation will not be successful.