ENG FOR PRESENTATIONS LECTURER: NG THAO TRANG

HOW TO MAKE A GOOD POWERPOINT SLIDE?

In nowadays society, PowerPoint is an indispensable tool that supports us to convey our ideas,
our thoughts, especially in the business field. Due to the fact that creating a remarkable
PowerPoint slide is not trouble-free, we have to take into consideration the common mistakes
made in the process of making PowerPoint slides then find out ways of fixing them.

From my perspective, PowerPoint slides are easy to create but difficult for us to make them
impeccable. According to the given video clip, there are six common PowerPoint mistakes we
need to avoid. Firstly, the most typical one is using a huge amount of text in a slide. This will
lead to the audience’s negligence because they have the tendency to pay more attention to the
text on the screen rather than to the presenter’s talking. Secondly, font size also plays a crucial
role in the slides. The font size being either too small or too big is not encouraged. Because if too
small, it will not be legible enough, or, conversely, if too big, it will make our slides look silly.
Thirdly, font moving contributes a part to worsen the slides. There is nothing more nauseating
than text that will not stand still. In this case, blinking is not much better and neck injuries could
occur. Following the text problems is the issue of the number of bullet points in a slide. We have
to avoid excessive bullet-pointing and only bullet key points. The reason for this is that too many
bullet-points will make our key messages not stand out. Additionally, two factors partially
determining our PowerPoint performance are Animation and Effectiveness. It is irrefutable that
moves and transitions make slides more engaging, but we must not overuse them. Too much
Animation and Effectiveness might irritate the audience, or they will unintentionally be more
interested in these effects rather than the points we want to highlight. In both cases, we are
moving way too far from our initial target. The last mistake mentioned in the video is using
excessive acronyms, for example, MBA U5C, IBM, EIT, etc. If we put too many acronyms in
PowerPoint slides, it will inevitably lead our listeners to complete confusion.

The primary purpose of learning common PowerPoint mistakes is to find out how to improve
them. To make a good PowerPoint slide, there are some principles we have to bear in mind. In
terms of text as well as bullet-points, we should single out the main points which we want the
audience to deeply remember to show on the PowerPoint. About the fonts, it is advisable to
choose the font size that is appropriate for the dimension of the slides and avoid moving fonts by
keeping the text stationary. Correspondingly, font analysis can help to restrain us from using

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ENG FOR PRESENTATIONS LECTURER: NG THAO TRANG

unsuitable fonts for our topic. Our font choices depend on the message we want to deliver and
the demands as well as the personality of our audience. For instance, Comic Sans is not proper
for a business presentation but it is quite good when used in a presentation about primary school
students. The most common fonts used in PowerPoint slides are Arial, Times New Romance, and
Calibri. Last but not least, we must not overdo the Animation and Effectiveness, plus acronyms
if we are craving for a good PowerPoint slide.

In conclusion, impressive PowerPoint slides are not effortless to make. Nevertheless, if we

know what the common PowerPoint mistakes are and how to improve them, everything will be
way easier. Let’s do our best and I believe that we can make our own flawless PowerPoint slides
someday.

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ENG FOR PRESENTATIONS LECTURER: NG THAO TRANG