SEVEN SINS OF SLIDESHOWS
A guide to creating effective and engaging presentations
Wednesday, February 18, 2009

1. Overusing Animation
Wednesday, February 18, 2009

1. Overusing Animation
Most slide transitions/effects pull attention
away from the speaker and topic at hand.
Lengthy transitions waste the time you have
available to deliver your message.
Too many animations on the same slide can
break the ‘flow’ of your presentation.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009

2. Too Many Fonts
Many fonts are dificult to read
from a distance
Too many fonts draw attention away
from the content of your presentation
A few fonts look very unprofessional.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009

3. Clip Art
Clip art is very
cliché.
If it isn’t cliché, it’s
probably in bad
taste.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009

4. Reading Your Slides
Reading from your slides is a good way to
bore your audience
It’s generally a bad idea to turn away from the
audience
While repetition is sometimes an effective
presentational technique, ad nauseam is not
Wednesday, February 18, 2009

5. Crappy Colors
Just because you like hot pink doesn’t mean
your audience will
Legibility of text goes down when you put
light colors on dark colors
Making people want to gouge their eyes out
doesn’t help deliver your point.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009

6. Too Much Text
People don’t like to read, especially when
they’re trying to pay attention to you while
continuing to take in a relatively large amount
of information in the space of time it takes you
to complete your presentation. No one likes
feeling dyslexic, slow, or lazy, so make it a point
to make information easily scannable by using
lists, headlines, and whitespace.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009

7. Speaking In Monotone
One of the best ways to disengage people
Confers a lack of excitement, enthusiasm, or respect for the topic
you’re talking about
Makes your presentation last longer than it really is (in a bad way)
Wednesday, February 18, 2009

IN CONCLUSION
Avoid the seven sins of slideshows
Wednesday, February 18, 2009