Common PowerPoint Presentation Mistakes

Microsoft's famous software can enhance your presentation, but you must avoid certain recurring errors in your document to prevent the opposite effect.

Almost everyone has tried to present a PowerPoint presentation in public at some point. The stress of timing, voice, breathing rhythm, and gestures is carefully considered—nothing should be left to chance. Your goal is to highlight your project, captivate, and persuade your audience. However, no matter how polished your appearance or compelling your argument, your presentation will fail if it doesn't match your ambitions.

Often after your live presentation, your audience will ask you to send it by email. When they're alone with your document, if it's difficult to read, you can no longer use your natural charm to carry it forward. It's therefore essential to understand various features to vary your effects while avoiding major errors.

To help you improve your document's quality, we've identified the most frequent errors that could damage your credibility.

Slides That Repeat What You're Saying

Remember that your audience can read. If they're in front of you and you're projecting the presentation, they'll read it while listening. Your presence should complement the presentation, meaning you should quickly summarize its content. Reading the slides aloud suggests your audience is too unintelligent to understand without you, which looks unprofessional. Reading your slides makes your live delivery tedious. Using your presentation as a teleprompter signals you don't know your subject well enough.

Overcrowded Slides

An effective slide is clear with a strong message, but not completely empty. You must include content, but it shouldn't be lost in the vastness of the page.

Using blank slides won't make you appear skilled at synthesis or direct communication. Instead, you'll look like you're rushing through your presentation or don't know how to use the tool—in which case, don't use it at all. Only use PowerPoint if you genuinely need it. Don't forget to use your brand guidelines to fill the space on your slides.

Too Many Graphics

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes a thousand words beat a cluttered image. You might be tempted to use many graphics or tables to make slides more attractive—sometimes that works, but avoid extremes. More isn't better. Your presentation could become hard to read if you flip through slides quickly and numbers become illegible in tables. Multiple tables pile on information that viewers must read and analyze, which burdens your presentation.

Too Many Colors

Don't forget your brand guidelines; don't turn your presentation into a rainbow or something overly loud. You must emphasize simplicity and quality.

Also remember your presentation is likely projected on a large screen, and people sitting far back must be able to read it. Use simple typography in black or dark colors for maximum readability. Use your color scheme for titles, buttons, or important elements, but keep it restrained.

Gimmicky Hook Slides

During your presentation, stay professional. You're not there to entertain; avoid unnecessary slides. We all know why you're presenting this document. We expect an introduction and conclusion.

Unfortunately, we often see slides with clichéd hooks or outdated transitions like "So, what do you think?" If people are in the room, they want to listen. They're there because they're your target audience.

Artistic Indulgences

You can succeed with slides without being an artist, but you're first a professional seeking to convince others. Too much of everything—color, typography, effects, transitions, graphics—won't help. Excess kills impact.

Your audience is interested in your content more than your presentation itself, though they'll certainly notice it.

The Photo Trap

You can and often do integrate photos into presentations. However, they're frequently overused, poorly connected, and of low quality. Too many photos make it feel like a slideshow or family album. That's unprofessional and content-poor. Avoid photos that aren't rights-free, low quality, or unrelated to your presentation or topic.

The Temptation of Jokes

You'll likely be tempted to use humor to lighten the mood or relax yourself. Avoid jokes in your presentation. If you want to make people laugh, the odds that it won't land universally are high. It might only make you laugh.

Text That's Too Light

Remember your presentation is probably large and some people won't see it as closely as you do. If it's too hard to read, they'll disengage quickly.

If they squint reading other slides, your contrast isn't optimized, making reading and understanding harder. Don't use overly light colors. Respect your brand identity, but prioritize readability above all.

Dark Backgrounds

As mentioned, it's highly recommended to use dark text on a white background. This prevents a suffocating feeling and makes your presentation much easier to read and clearer. Don't fear seeming bland—you're not creating a work of art with a dark background.

Practically speaking, dark backgrounds often obscure text, even if it's white. Don't act like an artist; think strategically and convince your audience as simply and clearly as possible.

Inconsistent Slides

Your presentation should reflect your knowledge and experience—not undermine it. Keep the same tone as your company and you won't go wrong. Don't use outdated, old, or low-quality images, neon colors, or archaic typography. Avoid blurry photos taken with your phone 15 years ago, or neon green titles in Comic Sans, for example.

Overpowering Master Slides

To maintain your brand identity, you naturally think about creating master slides. That's a good idea, but remember the primary element is the message on each slide. Logo, pagination, and breadcrumbs are important for navigation, but they're not key. You can mention your company name, presentation date, or HR contact in the introduction or conclusion instead. Avoid repetition—it annoys people.

Overly Distinctive Typography

Remember you're not necessarily an artist, and your main message is what you write. Your audience should focus on content, not form.

Choose readable typography visible from far away in dark colors, preferably sans-serif. Don't fear using popular fonts—they're popular for a reason.

Multiple Font Styles

Public speaking is difficult enough. Stack the odds in your favor by making your presentation as pleasant as possible. Just as you shouldn't use too many colors, make sure your typography is consistent. You don't need 20 fonts to organize information on a slide.

Text Too Small to Read

You have a lot of information to include and aren't required to limit page count. Better to have more readable slides than a lightweight document that sacrifices quality. Some people see less clearly than you or sit farther back—they need to read your entire presentation comfortably.

Also, don't set text to size 400—we're not here for an 800-page presentation.

Spelling Errors

The most common error in presentations, emails, and documents is spelling mistakes. This includes missing letters, capitalization without accents (yes, capital letters need accents too), capitals at sentence starts, and punctuation.

PowerPoint automatically corrects spelling, and Office includes a spell-checker. If you're unsure about spelling, use sites like Scribens to correct your document. Your audience will focus only on spelling errors and details that jump out. Spelling mistakes are always damaging—in emails, important documents, or PowerPoint presentations. They suggest you didn't proofread or don't speak the language correctly.

Spend 15 minutes thoroughly reviewing your document when finished and give yourself every chance to achieve your goal.