The 10 Presentation Sins and Your Rescue Strategies

1. The Time Management Debacle: You’re Running Massively Overtime

The Fail:

You’re only halfway through and time is already up. The audience nervously glances at the door.

The Rescue:

  • Plan your time realistically (including buffer for questions)
  • Practice with a stopwatch
  • Have an “emergency plan” for cutting content ready

Pro Tip: Better short and punchy than long and boring. Leave them hungry for more!

You can find out more about proper time management in our article “Perfect Timing: The Key to Unforgettable Presentations”.

2. The Text Desert Disaster: Your Slides Are Not Novels

The Fail:

Your slides look like the summary of your doctoral thesis. Spoiler: Nobody will read that.

Note: If your audience is reading, they’re not listening to you. Choose one!

The Rescue:

  • Maximum 6 (!) words per line, maximum 6 lines per slide (absolute maximum in exceptional cases!)
  • Use bullet points instead of complete sentences
  • Visual elements are your best friends

3. The Slide Overkill: One Message Per Slide!

The Fail:

You pack so much information onto a single slide that your audience feels like they’re playing Where’s Waldo. Text deserts, multiple graphics, and various messages compete for attention – a classic case of “can’t see the forest for the trees.”

The Rescue:

  • Follow the “one core message per slide” rule
  • Ask yourself for each element: “Does this support my main message?”
  • Split complex information across multiple slides

Pro Tip: Do the squint test – narrow your eyes. If you can’t quickly identify the most important information on the slide, you need to simplify further.

4. The Technical Disaster: “Just a moment, it was working earlier…”

The Fail:

Your laptop crashes, the projector acts up, and you’re sweating like a pig.

The Rescue:

  • Arrive early and check EVERYTHING
  • Always have a Plan B (and C) ready: USB stick, cloud backup, printed handouts
  • Learn the most important “tech troubleshooting skills”

Note: Technology is your tool, not your enemy. Master it before it masters you!

5. The Target Audience Fail: You’re Completely Missing Your Audience

The Fail:

You’re giving a lecture on quantum physics to elementary school students. Oops.

The Rescue:

  • Research your audience thoroughly beforehand
  • Adapt content, language, and examples to your listeners
  • Actively collect feedback on whether everything is understandable

Note: A presentation is like a tailored suit – it needs to fit your audience perfectly!

Our article “The Art of Targeted Presentations”offers more tips on how to get your message across clearly and concisely.

6. The Content Vacuum: Lots of Talk, Little Substance

The Fail:

You talk and talk, but somehow no real message comes across.

The Rescue:

  • Define your 3 core messages and stick to them
  • Use the “So what?” principle: Why is this information relevant?
  • Support your points with concrete examples or data

Note: Every sentence in your presentation should have a purpose. If not – remove it!

7. The Patchwork Effect: When Your Presentation Becomes a Quilt

The Fail:

You’ve cobbled together individual “highlight slides” from various old presentations. The result looks like a PowerPoint potpourri with five different corporate designs and no recognizable common thread.

The Rescue:

  • First develop a clear structure and story for your presentation
  • Then check which existing slides can support this story
  • Adapt borrowed slides to your unified design
  • Create transitions between slides that emphasize the common thread

Pro Tip: A presentation is like a good novel – each chapter builds on the previous one and leads to a common climax. A collection of disconnected short stories doesn’t make a bestseller!

You can find out more about how you can make your presentation consistent in our article “Consistency in Presentations: Essential for Compelling Appearances”.

8. The Carnival Effect: When the Presentation Becomes a Fairground

The Fail:

Comic Sans meets Papyrus while colorful clip art dances to the beat of the latest PowerPoint animation. Your presentation looks like a digital flea market.

The Rescue:

  • Limit yourself to maximum two different fonts (one for headings, one for text)
  • Only use animations purposefully when they provide real value
  • Avoid decorative clip art – use meaningful icons or professional images instead
  • Less is more: Every element should serve a purpose

Pro Tip: Imagine your presentation is a suit for an important business meeting. You wouldn’t combine Hawaiian shirts with tuxedos, would you?

You can find out more about choosing the right fonts in our article “Fonts in Presentations: From Boring to Eye-catching”.

9. The Glare Effect: Your Design is an Eyesore

The Fail:

Neon green on pink? Really? The eye doctors are already rubbing their hands.

The Rescue:

  • Stick to 2-3 main colors that complement each other
  • Ensure good contrast between text and background
  • Maintain a consistent design throughout

Pro Tip: If you’re not sure whether your design is good: It probably isn’t. Keep it simple!

You can find out more about slide design in our article “Presentation Power: How to Impress with Ingenious Design!”.

10. The Exit Crash: Your Ending is… well, not an ending

The Fail:

You mumble a “Well, that’s it then” and stare expectantly at the audience. Awkward!

The Rescue:

  • Plan a strong ending with a clear summary
  • Have a punchy closing line ready
  • Practice various transitions for Q&A or to the next program item

Pro Tip: Your ending should be like the last bite of a delicious burger – satisfying and leaving an impression!

Bonus: The Universal Rescue for All Fails

No matter which fail happens to you, here’s your joker:

  • Stay authentic and human: Mistakes happen, own them!
  • Humor is your best friend: If you can laugh at yourself, the audience laughs with you, not at you
  • Focus on your message: In the end, it’s about content, not perfection
  • Learn from every fail: Every mistake is an opportunity to be even better next time

Note: The best presenters aren’t the ones who never make mistakes, but those who handle them best!

Conclusion: From “Presentation Fails” to “Presentation Wins”

Phew, that was quite a lot of pitfalls to fall into, wasn’t it? But hey, now you’re equipped like a presentation ninja! Remember: Each of these fails is an opportunity to grow and improve your performance. With a bit of practice and the right tricks up your sleeve, you’ll soon be elegantly dancing around these pitfalls.

And if you’ve now really got the bug and want to dive deeper into the art of perfect presentation – well, you know where you are. Take a look at our other articles. From body language mastery to mastering challenging situations during a presentation – we’ve got plenty more aces up our sleeve to turn you into a real presentation superstar. So, stay tuned, learn from your fails, and rock your next presentation like a pro!