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Six Signs of Poor PowerPoint Skills

A common pitfall that presenters find themselves stumbling upon is the thinking that just because they know how to work with PowerPoint, they have good PowerPoint skills. It certainly does not follow that just because you know the ins and outs of the PowerPoint software, your PowerPoint skills are already exceptional. For all we know, you may be displaying the six signs of poor PowerPoint skills.

What are these six signs of poor PowerPoint skills? Read on and find out.

  1. You have poor PowerPoint skills if you tend to make slides with large blocks of text and in small, unreadable fonts.

    Always keep your audience in mind whenever you make a slide. To make each slide more effective, just put in one key point on every slide. Also, check if the font size is big enough and if the font style is legible enough that the people sitting at the back would be able to read your slide just fine.

  2. You have poor PowerPoint skills if you have large blocks of text on your slides and you read from the slide verbatim.

    Reading verbatim from a slide is the surest way to make your audience fall asleep on you. The slide is supposed to be a visual aid and not a reading implement. Do not read your slides line by line. Instead, talk using your notes, keep your voice lively and keep facing the audience.

  3. You have poor PowerPoint skills if you do not make eye contact with your audience.

    This is most likely the case if you are making your presentation by reading verbatim from the slide. The key to being certain that you are bringing your message, whatever point it is that you are trying to make, is to keep facing your audience and to maintain eye contact with them.

  4. You have poor PowerPoint skills if you have concentrated too much on the look of your slides and failed to consider the content.

    No matter how pretty your slides appear to be, you will not be able to convey your message effectively to your audience if your delivery of the message is done in a manner that the audience will not find interesting. Make it a point to know your audience and to connect with them when you are talking.

  5. You have poor PowerPoint skills if your presentation does not have a logical structure.

    Your talk should have a logical sequence, and your PowerPoint presentation should flow smoothly according to the way you have structured it. The fastest way to lose your audience is to jump from one topic to another without any transition. There should always be a gradual transition from one slide to the next.

  6. You have poor PowerPoint skills if you have not bothered to check the computer you would be using during the presentation proper.

    If you do not check the computer you would be using during your presentation, you run the risk of not having any presentation at all. Ask the people organizing it what kind of computer they would be using, what version of PowerPoint that they are running, and what storage devices the computer work with. Always bring a copy of your presentation burned on a CD or stored in a portable device.

Are your PowerPoint skills good? Or do you show the six signs of poor PowerPoint skills?

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