Suck at
Power
Point!
You
5 shocking design Mistakes
you need to avoid

Approximately350PowerPointpresentations
aregiveneverysecondaroundtheworld...
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andapproximately
99%suck.

andapproximately
99%suck.
Butit’snot
PowerPoint
whichsucks.

It’sthespeaker
(you)whoneeds
touseitproperly.

Yourslides
areanaid
andnot
acrutch.

Unfortunately
iftheysuck,
sodoyou.

Let’slearngoodpresentationdesign
fromotherpeople’smistakeswith...

SHOCKING
DESIGN
MISTAKES
YOU NEED
TO AVOID
5

TOO
MUCH
INFO
1
MISTAKE

Don’tvomiteverypieceof
informationonyourslides.

Ifyou’regoingtoputwordforwordwhat
you’rearegoingtosay,handovertheslides
andtakeaseatinstead.
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH

If your audience is reading what
you’re saying, then what’s
the point of you being there?
YOU’RE NOT GIVING
A DOCUMENT,
YOU’RE GIVING
A PRESENTATION.

Agoodtrickisto
keepone
mainpoint
perslide.
Thishelpsyouwith
timingandprevents
youraudiencefrom
skippingahead.
POINT
ONE
POINT
TWO
POINT
THREE
POINT
FOUR
POINT
FIVE
POINT
SIX

Keepit
relevant.
Effectivecommunication
isknowingwhattocutout,
sobeamercilesseditor.
Lessslides
meansmore
timefor
interaction.
POINT
ONE X POINT
THREE
X X POINT
SIX

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whfpiwjef[weif[w
Don’toverdoit
withsenselessdata.

Dothehardwork
foryouraudienceand
turnthatdatainto
somethingwhichis
meaningful.

NOT
ENOUGH
VISUALS
2
MISTAKE

Deliverabiggerpunch
withstrongvisuals.

Thereareendless
sourcesofvisualsyou
canusetobringyour
presentationtolife.

Ifyou’regoingtousestandardMicrosoft
clipartthere’snohopeforyou,sorry.
*withconditions
Agoodplacetostartis:
iStockPhoto.com:
Royaltyfree
($$$)
Compfight.com:
CreativeCommons
(free-ish*)

Youdon’thavetousecheesystockphotos.

Youdon’thavetousecheesystockphotos.
Seriously,isitthatmuchfuntoworkinacallcenter?

Youdon’thavetousecheesystockphotos.
Whichevervisualsyouusejustrememberto...
Seriously,isitthatmuchfuntoworkinacallcenter?

Designforthisguy.

Designforthisguy.
Ifit’sunreadable,don’tuseit.

CRAP
QUALITY
3
MISTAKE

Don’tboreyour
audiencewith
childishvisuals.
Investtimein
learninggreat
design.

Therearetwoshortcutstogreatdesign

Buyit:
Gooddesigncostsmoney.
Investinprofessional
imagesandtypeface.
Alittle$$$cangiveyou
significantadvantage.

EverythingIsARemix.infoisagreatplace
tostarttolearnhowtostealgreatdesign
Stealit:
Youcanreverseengineer
almostanygooddesign.
Takeapartyourfavorite
presentations,infographics,
websitesandfigureouthow
it’sdoneandremixitinto
somethingnew.

aquicktipontypeface:
DON’TUSE
$!*#&FONTS!

Tahoma
Microsoft Sans Serif
Arial
Verdana
Courier New
Times New Roman
Trebuchet MS
Lucida Console
Comic Sans MS...
are$!*#&fonts

Google‘beautifulfonts’
andyou’llfindplentyofhandpickedfonts
bysomeofthebestdesigners.

Here’san
exampleofafree
fontthatlooks,
um,delicious.

While95%ofyourcolleaguesusePowerPoint,
itdoesn’tneedtobeyouronlyoption.
For22yearsPowerPointhasbeenthestandard
fordeliveringpresentation.
Butnotanymore.
Experimentwithdifferentpresentationstools
andseewhichoneproducesthebestresults

visual
vomit
4
MISTAKE

Whitespaceisagoodthing.

Bemindfulof
spacingand
alignment.

POINT 1
Alwayskeep
everything
niceandtidy.

Having a consistent use of colors,
images & alignment gives a cohesive
look to your presentation.
It also helps to separate your
presentation into recognizable sections.

Useacollectionofvisualassets
thatbelongtogether...

ColorLovers.comisagreat
sourceofcolorschemes
and always stick to a color scheme.

And the most shocking
design mistake...

LACK
OF
PREP
5
MISTAKE

Most presentations suck because
not enough time went into
making them. Period.
Youneedtocrafttheperfectstory,
createbeautifullookingslidestosupportit
andthenrehearse,rehearse,rehearse.
...andnotthenightbefore.

Anoutstanding1hourpresentationcan
take30hoursormoreofpreptime.

Ya,exactly.

It’sallaboutbeingorganized
andplanningahead.
Haveasystemforcollectingyourideas
to reworkthemintoamasterpiece.

86%
oftopexecutivessaythat
communicatingwithclarity
directlyimpactstheir
careerandincome.
Source: www.distinction-services.com

Source: www.distinction-services.com
Yetonly25%
Spendmorethan2hours
on‘high-stakes’presentations

Design,don’tjustslap
somethingtogether.
Ifyourpresentationsucks,
don’tblamePowerPoint.

Let’srecap...
MISTAKES
TO AVOID:

TOO
MUCH
INFO
NOT
ENOUGH
VISUALS
HORRIBLE
QUALITY
VISUAL
VOMIT
LACK
OF PREP
Let’srecap...
MISTAKES
TO AVOID:

Anicelydesignedpresentation
isnotthemostimportantpart.
But wait!

Yesthebestspeakersgripanaudience
bytellingastoryandshowingsome
slidestosupportthat,but...

theboldestamong
themdoawaywith
slidesentirelyand
gonaked.
Yesthebestspeakersgripanaudience
bytellingastoryandshowingsome
slidestosupportthat,but...

Beforeyoubecomeamasterpresentation
designeryoumustbeagreatstorytellerfirst.
Oneofthebestresourcesto
helpyouwiththisisResonate
byNancyDuarte.

(yousignhere)
I promise to never
design a presentation
that sucks ever again.

Now go on tiger,
we need you to
not suck.

Pleasesharethispresentation.
Togetherlet’sridtheworld
ofPowerPointthatsucks.
JesseDesjardins
twitter.com/jessedee
slideshare.net/jessedee
Thank
You.
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