Every Day People Are Giving Bad Presentations

Last Updated on: October 31, 2026

Big thanks to Christi Boggs for blogging my session.

We are concerned that the information presented is not being retained. We want to make sure that they get the information that we spent so much time creating.

Improving Your PowerPoint Presentations By Stan Skrabut from Stan Skrabut, Ed.D.

We’re here to figure out how to use Powerpoint to do a better job of presenting our ideas.

Walked out of two presentations at the last conference and they were both given by presenters in Higher Education.

How to Make Presentations Memorable

How Memory Processes Presentations

Education creates research on how memory works, and business soaks it up, but we (education) ignore it.
Most viewers only remember bits and pieces of information from any presentation.
Working memory can only process 3-4 bits of new information at any one time. If we attach new ideas to existing memories, we will remember more. Tell good stories to connect to people – Stan has done this great!
Working memory can’t do much at one time. Most of the time, we overload people with information in PowerPoint.
We bring information in on two channels: Verbal and Visual
The visual channel processes images, photos, charts, graphs, and so on.
Your mind does a great job of mapping visual information.
The verbal channel processes narration.
Problem with bullet points: bring in text visually and then make them remember verbal. There is a collision! It is easiest to create animated bullet points in PowerPoint which is the most important.
We want to guide people through ideas – focus on one idea per slide. It’s easy to digest!

The idea of a presentation is to make it easier for the learner to learn – not to help the instructor. It’s supposed to support learning.

Designing Slides That Support Learning

Stan presenting on presenting

Give them entire sentences – the human mind likes these!
Use simple graphics to relate to the specific point at hand. It can be hard, but it’s possible! Take the time. It’s worth it.
When creating a presentation, don’t start with PowerPoint. Start with Word/outline/template.
Call to action – why is the audience there?
The structure of the presentation: Key Point (5 minutes), Explanation (15 min), Details (45 min)
Don’t put the information ON the slide. This is what I’m going to talk about! Associate information you want to talk about with a good graphic.

Turning an Outline Into Slides

Start with brainstorming – template
Select all from the template and copy
New Document and Paste Special as unformatted text.
Delete parts of the Word Document that are not helpful/useful – If you are Stan, you write a macro to do this 😉
End up with every item on its own line.
Open PowerPoint, choose Template in PPT
‘New Slide’ find the option to add a slide from an outline and choose the Word Document you created.
Organize slides and apply the appropriate template (title, bullet, etc.) to each slide.
Add notes to slides. You can create notes from this, and you can also use presentation mode to see your notes during the presentation.
Choose the right visual elements to put on your slides. Figure out what you want on your slide and then look for something that will work. Shutterstock, Flickr images, Creative Commons – Take your own photos and keep your own library!
Trying to make a point and drive it home with the visuals.
Done!

Delivering Your Presentation Effectively

Step into the screen – organize your space. Don’t split the audience’s attention between the screen and yourself.
Put your computer in front of you so that you can talk to the audience, not the slide.
Use a remote to change your slides.
Remove as many distractions as possible to make your presentation transparent.
Keep the slides SIMPLE! Don’t cloud your presentation with extraneous information.
Make sure the environment is good and works. Have multiple backup plans. Plan for problems that might arise.
Practice, practice, practice! If you followed the path, you looked at your slide deck 5 times before you even practiced live!
Three elements: headline, graphic, your voice.
Encourage and acknowledge the backchannel – notes, tweets, etc! Add the backchannel info to your introduction slide. Incorporate tweet breaks. It can also provide feedback so that you can improve.

References:

Beyond Bullet Points, 3rd Edition: Using Microsoft PowerPoint to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate, and Inspire: Cliff Atkinson
Visual Literacy: Learn to See, See to Learn: Lynell Burnmark
The Backchannel: How Audiences Are Using Twitter and Social Media and Changing Presentations Forever: Cliff Atkinson

Additional Reading

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