Tell me what you hate about Powerpoint presentations

[Kathyis6incheshigh]

Because I am rewriting a lot of mine for my lectures now I'm back at work and would like them to be better.

TIA!

When the frigging laptop/projector combination doesn't work.

[unhelpful]

Do you know about Edward Tufte ...? (Discovery from certain poster on here. Has built entire ideology on, basically, hating Powerpoint.)

Hum, it depends what you do, what I REALLY hate is when people have a powerpoint and basically just read it out - arggghhhh.
Alot of really good presentations don't need visual aids, but if you have information that you want to display limit the powerpoint to that rather than the powerpoint being your whole lecture.

The noises when you put animation such as the drive in noise and the typewriter one!!!

They are usually incredibly boring because there are far too many slides and the slides do not use the full range of visual displays that Powerpoint allows (probably because people aren't properly trained).

If you are only using words, DO NOT EVER use Powerpoint. Powerpoint is, however, great for graphics and pictures.

Pointless fancy bits like flying script and all that malarky. Keep it simple I think

I hate the all frills, no knickers stuff

It's fine to use the fancy visuals (flying text etc) when you are building a graphic ie you have a series of slides that build up a visual in sequence. There does have to be a very good reason for using those features - if you haven't got one, don't.

Use it for bits that people might get wrong ie names of companies or technical terms. Limit its use, don't read the slide aloud verbatim ie as a prompter.
agree with tarantula regards flying script and "jazzy" effects

Too much on one page

[more helpful]

Most common annoyance for me is when people try to put all the information they are conveying on the slides, rather than using the slides for key points and to give some structure.

INformation should come from person giving presentation plus handout notes if appropriate.

Kathy - can you get on a Powerpoint training course? Worth their weight in gold IMO (especially if your employer pays )

Reading out what is on the slides word for word - I can read

Too much info on one slide

No photos illustrating points

Bad background and text colour choices

Too small text

Spelling mistakes

Giving out handouts at the end when you have spent the entire lecture making notes!!!!!!!! Either give them out before so I can add notes to them or if you don't want me to know the answers TELL ME you have handouts of the slides.

This is fab everyone, thanks.

Anna - yes I probably can go on a course. Good idea.

(sorry am being a bit terse because computer keeps crashing)

ooh, yes, spelling mistakes. Cringe! And then impossible to view the presenter with much credibility.

I don't mean 'view with credibility' do I? YOu know what I mean anyway.

Bink I just found Edward Tufte's website and it's brilliant! Wow! I love the 'rocket science' picture - am going to print that out for dh....

Hmm, I think I probably do use too many words sometimes then!

I had a very bad experience once with words whizzing across the screen and have never tried to do anything fancy since - I was v proud of myself for learning to make them whizz but did not realise (because my computer didn't have sound) that this for some reason came with the sound of a zooming car crashing into something. When I gave the lecture it was in a big new lecture theatre with surround sound and I had all these horrible sound effects I couldn't turn off. Students PTSL....

Glad you think ET is marvellous - he is a very deliberate maverick so probably you have to employ a lot of pinches of salt, but the intellectual energy is such fun. (And the pictures - beautiful beautiful books.)