Power Point Mishaps

Microsoft Power Point has a hefty amount of features to help you deliver a smooth presentation and keep your audience’s attention. I’ve seen people use these to enhance their presentation or they use them to shoot themselves in the foot. In recent classes I saw a number of presentations that had reoccurring problems. There are three that repeated themselves the most and resulted in serious damage to the presentation.

Problem One: The Text Wall

The Text Wall occurs when you fill the slide with every bit of text you can think of. Wither you read the whole thing or not your audience will see the wall, tune out your presentation or ignore all the writing and wait for you to spell it out in reduced terms. When using slides it’s more effective to use short and concise points and have empty space (less is more). Blank space is friendly to the eye and the short points help your audience stay on track with you. If you have a large influx of data to present then use multiple slides rather than jamming one slide to maximum capacity.

Problem Two: Animations

Having a lack of or overdose of animations will both bring problems to your presentation. Having no animation makes your presentation choppy and encourages your audience to read ahead rather than listen to you present the information. Over kill with animations distracts the audience from you and your information. Use simple animations that don’t take too long to finish. Your purpose in a presentation is not to dazzle them with special effects.

Problem Three: Slide Reading

This problem is usually coupled with text walls and no animation. Many presenters have a problem with getting in front of an audience, turning to watch their own slides and reading them word for word. The problems with reading your slides verbatim are your presentation becomes very boring, no one is inclined to bring up questions and you don’t have a clue if people are paying attention to your presentation or not. The purpose of the slides is to give the presenter structure and support to what you say. The presenter needs to be in the spotlight not the power point slides. If reading is how the information needs to be relayed, send out a memo and have them read it themselves.

Presenters need to know what they are talking about. More preparation may be needed than simply writing out a few slides. It’s okay to have short notes in front of you to follow. When making a presentation you need to look at your audience. If you don’t look at your audience how do you expect them to pay attention to you. Making periodic eye contact will keep your audience focused on you. Being prepared and making eye contact will make a world of difference.

Be aware of these prominent problems. Make your presentations eye friendly, short, and to the point. Remember to practice before hand so you can be focused on your audience. Taking more thought to detail will keep your audience’s interest and increase retention of the information you present.

Power Point Mishaps

Microsoft Power Point has a hefty amount of features to help you deliver a smooth presentation and keep your audience’s attention. I’ve seen people use these to enhance their presentation or they use them to shoot themselves in the foot. In recent classes I saw a number of presentations that had reoccurring problems. There are three that repeated themselves the most and resulted in serious damage to the presentation.

Problem One: The Text Wall

The Text Wall occurs when you fill the slide with every bit of text you can think of. Wither you read the whole thing or not your audience will see the wall, tune out your presentation or ignore all the writing and wait for you to spell it out in reduced terms. When using slides it’s more effective to use short and concise points and have empty space (less is more). Blank space is friendly to the eye and the short points help your audience stay on track with you. If you have a large influx of data to present then use multiple slides rather than jamming one slide to maximum capacity.

Problem Two: Animations

Having a lack of or overdose of animations will both bring problems to your presentation. Having no animation makes your presentation choppy and encourages your audience to read ahead rather than listen to you present the information. Over kill with animations distracts the audience from you and your information. Use simple animations that don’t take too long to finish. Your purpose in a presentation is not to dazzle them with special effects.

Problem Three: Slide Reading

This problem is usually coupled with text walls and no animation. Many presenters have a problem with getting in front of an audience, turning to watch their own slides and reading them word for word. The problems with reading your slides verbatim are your presentation becomes very boring, no one is inclined to bring up questions and you don’t have a clue if people are paying attention to your presentation or not. The purpose of the slides is to give the presenter structure and support to what you say. The presenter needs to be in the spotlight not the power point slides. If reading is how the information needs to be relayed, send out a memo and have them read it themselves.

Presenters need to know what they are talking about. More preparation may be needed than simply writing out a few slides. It’s okay to have short notes in front of you to follow. When making a presentation you need to look at your audience. If you don’t look at your audience how do you expect them to pay attention to you. Making periodic eye contact will keep your audience focused on you. Being prepared and making eye contact will make a world of difference.

Be aware of these prominent problems. Make your presentations eye friendly, short, and to the point. Remember to practice before hand so you can be focused on your audience. Taking more thought to detail will keep your audience’s interest and increase retention of the information you present.

How Many Presentations Do You Miss?

Most people rarely spend time working on presentation skills. I’m sure you’ve heard about how important these qualities are but when do you ever really use them? You’d be surprised at how many situations can be a presentation.

The obvious scenarios are presentations for investors, meetings, even interviews, that would usually include practice, preparations and even visuals. What about calling for or picking up an application? Your potential employer could take note of your behavior and demeanor. Entrepreneurs and small business owners are surrounded by presentation opportunities every day (What do you do for a living?)

Sometimes we might practice and prepare without even realizing the presentation being presented, such as in dating. Don’t you present your best self to get a name, phone number, or a second date? Maybe you even practice in front of the mirror before asking for the date.

Presenting opportunities are all around us whether we are aware of them or not, or whether we choose to ignore them or subconsciously reinforce preparations. Becoming aware will help you recognize opportunities for positive impressions and allow you to improve the message being sent. Being able to effectively present yourself in multiple situations will award you more positive attention and get you and your ideas remembered.