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Common Mistakes with Microsoft PowerPoint
Common Mistakes with MS PPT
By Sharon Housley
A PowerPoint presentation can be an extremely
valuable marketing tool for businesses in this day and
age. Here are a few common mistakes that you should
try to avoid when creating your presentations...
1. Excessive Animation
Excessive animation can really distract
from a presentation. Keep animation to a minimum. Transitions
between slides may be appropriate, but a constantly-moving
animated image on a slide can make the text on the slide
difficult to read, and can distract the viewer from
the message.
2. Content Stuffing
Attempting to include too much content
on the slide can be frustrating for audience members,
who are trying to read the slide and listen to the presentation
at the same time. The PowerPoint slides should be used
simply to highlight and emphasize the talking points.
Bulleted lists work great for this, rather than blocks
of full text that simply duplicate what the speaker
is saying.
3. Including Fancy Fonts
Not only are fancy fonts distracting and
difficult to read, but many versions of PowerPoint do
not embed fonts by default -- which means that you may
have a font in your presentation that someone else,
or another computer, does not have.
4. Speaking "At" The Audience Instead
Of "To" Them
It is important that the presenter engage
the audience. Simply reading the PowerPoint slides will
not result in a good or memorable presentation.
5. Unrelated Design Theme
Do not force your PowerPoint design to
fit your topic. Instead, find a design that is flexible
and will enhance your presentation. There are literally
thousands of PowerPoint templates and backgrounds available,
covering nearly any topic. Finding a layout that meets
your needs should not be too difficult. For example,
check out the PowerPoint backgrounds and layouts found
at
http://www.ppt-templates.net .
6. Inconsistency
The design theme should be consistent
throughout the presentation. A consistent presentation
will flow much smoother and be more cohesive, as opposed
to slides with different graphic elements and backgrounds
that can cause the audience to focus more on the changing
graphics and backgrounds than on the message itself.
7. Excessive Slides
The success of a presentation is not determined
by the number of slides in the presentation. More is
not always better! Do not use an excessive number of
slides in your presentation if they aren't absolutely
necessary.
8. Lack Of Preparation
Practice makes perfect. The best presentations
are prepared and rehearsed well in advance of the actual
presentation. Make sure you prepare adequately, and
practice the presentation multiple times.
9. Not Testing Equipment
It makes sense to do a run-through of
your presentation BEFORE the actual presentation. Test
the hardware, lens focus, microphones, etc, in advance.
This will allow you to catch and resolve any technical
issues... without having to do it in front of your audience.
10. Distributing Handouts
If you have handouts or promotional materials,
wait until after the presentation is completed to distribute
them. Handing them out before or during the presentation
can disrupt the flow your presentation, and can result
in the audience becoming distracted.
11. Lack Of Confidence
A confident speaker who knows the material
will win every time over a speaker who lacks confidence.
12. No Connection
Connect with the audience by engaging
them in the presentation. Maintain eye contact with
audience members while you are speaking.
13. Failure To Walk The Walk
Dress the part, because first impressions
do matter. As they say, you should always "dress for
success." If you dress in a professional manner, your
audience will be more inclined to listen to your presentation,
and will take you more seriously.
Making a public presentation is never
easy for most of us, but avoiding the above issues will
help make your presentation much more successful and
error-free.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com
software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds
and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for
RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com
audio recording and editing software.
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be greatly appreciated send an email to sharon@notepage.net
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