another word for bad presentation

Bad Presentations: How To Avoid Common Presentation Pitfalls In 2023

Table of contents.

It’s easy to make a presentation, but it’s difficult to make a good presentation.

There are simple mistakes that are made when it comes to the fine art of designing and performing a presentation if you haven’t been doing it for the past 15 years, over and over, like we have!

In this article we explore the common pitfalls most presentation designers/presenters make , and how you can avoid them.

What Impact Can A Bad Presentation Have?

Bad presentations and good presentations have something in common, they’re memorable. Whether it’s a speech at a wedding, or pitching to investors, if it’s bad, it stands out.

The impact a bad presentation can have on your, your business or your brand is profound. It’s more than just the performance on the day. In today’s world, everyone is connected and people talk. It’s difficult to shift your image if you make the wrong impression.

Below are just a few hurdles you can expect to face if your presentation bombs.

Loss Of Confidence In You Or Your Company

When you have or give a bad presentation, it’s easy for your audience to lose confidence in you. After all, at that moment in time, you’re the face of the company and a direct representation of who you represent.

If you drop the ball, that’s what your audience is going to expect you to do if they decide to partner with you. How can they do business or trust in you if they don’t have confidence in you.

Fortunately, we understand how much hard work, time, and dedication it takes just to get the opportunity to deliver a presentation to your audience, your clients, your investors, or your own company. Which is why our presentation design services will help take care of the visual and organizational side of your slides.

We Can Make You Look Goood!

You Can Develop A Negative Reputation

Ineffective presentations are a waste of time, and as we all know, time is valuable. Simple things like unpreparedness, lack of audience engagement, talking too much, a poorly structured or visual presentation design.

These things DO NOT go unnoticed and you will develop a reputation that will most certainly work against you professionally. It takes a lot more work to repair damage that it does to put your best foot forward in the first place.

Slower Business Growth

If your presentation misses out on the key points and the words you’ve chosen for your slides are poor, you will experience slower business growth as there is less information for your audience about your brand. If they are missing out on the key idea because your slides are too simple, they won’t want to buy into your brand.

Here Are The Most Common Mistakes You Can Make With Your Presentation

There’s common mistakes that are both easy to make and easy to avoid if you know what you are looking for. There are common mistakes presenters make because most presentations have too much information, pictures and the information that you as the presenter are trying to communicate gets lost in the jumble of the presentation.

Talking Too Much About Yourself

Presenters who spend too much time speaking about themselves while they present is one example of a common mistake. The audience members want the informative information about your brand, not the informative information about you as the speaker.

Focusing Too Much On Facts And Not Storytelling

You want to engage your audience by using both facts and storytelling to sell them on your brand. If you focus too much on facts, it’s the worst thing you can do for your presentation because you’ll quickly lose your audience’s attention.

Poorly Designed Visual Aids

Visual aids are important to making a great presentation, but not if they are poorly designed. It’s important to have engaging visual aids, dark text on white background is a great way to focus the audience’s attention. Make your presentation your own by choosing well designed visual aids that add to your presentation as a whole.

Disorganized Information (No Logic Or Order)

Are your slides all over the place? Your examples don’t make sense to your brand? The worst presentations are hard to follow, confusing and distracting from the main points. An audience wants to sit through an engaging presentation, and by having order and logic to your slides with words that point back to your idea, you will capture their attention and keep them captivated.

Too Much Information

If you have too many points on your slides, or paragraphs that you’ll be reading off during your presentation, you have too much information. Have less on the slides, keep to the point and spend more time talking directly to your audience rather than reading to them.

No Engagement Or Interaction

A common pitfall that is easy to fall into, is not interacting with the audience members, by making eye contact, allowing time for questions or asking questions to the audience. They are sitting right in front of you (Physically or Virtually) so interact with them right from the beginning so they expect it throughout the presentation. If you need some tips on how to make a presentation interactive , we’ve got you covered.

If you’re looking for a few tips on, this article on being a better presenter can help.

Reading Directly From Your PowerPoint Presentation

When you read directly from the PowerPoint Presentation, your body language is not open to the audience, and it means that you aren’t engaging with either the material or your listeners. If you spend time in preparation and writing out what you will be saying, you can speak directly to the audience and portray confidence in your brand. By purposefully making eye contact, you are connecting with those who are listening to you.

Ending The Presentation Abruptly

When you finish your talk and forget to allow time for questions, you are sending a message that you don’t care about the audience’s understanding of the material you have presented. All it takes is one slide to finish a presentation well and leave space for the audience to ask questions.

Animation Overload

When you overload on animation, you make your presentation look cheap and distracting from your important points. It’s an easy way to make ineffective presentations, as it’s distracting to the main goal of your presentation. Keep animations to a minimum and bullet points on your slides instead to create engaging presentations.

So Is A Bad Presentation Worth The Risk?

Don’t talk too much about yourself, but tell stories about your brand so the audience can connect with you as the presenter and your company. You want to engage with the audience through well chosen visual aids, and keep order to your information both in your slides and your speech. Don’t overload in cheap looking animations and always leave room for your audience to ask questions at the end.

It’s best to be prepared, put our best foot forward and invest the time/money in making sure you’re well rehearsed and have some kick ass slides to back you up. Effort and intent are noticed, as long as they’ve been put it.

Are You In Need Of A Good Presentation To Give The Right Impression?

Your slides are more than just beautiful graphics, they’re opportunities for you to share your stories/ideas. Leave the PowerPoint, Prezi, Google Slides to us and focus on nailing the public speaking part!

Just click the button below and get the conversation started today! We’re here to support you, so connect with a Presentation Geek and take the first step towards a presentation that blows your competition out of the water.

Author:  Content Team

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In This Article

Jump to a Section

• Equipment Isn't Working

Information Underload

Lack of focus.

• Reading From the Screen
• Too Many Visual Aids
• Fonts Too Small
• Bad Design Templates
• Too Many Slides
• Unusual Color Combinations

The Bottom Line

Welcome to Bad Presentation Techniques 101 . Almost everyone has sat through a bad presentation with poor techniques and unprepared presenters. There are also scenarios where presenters read verbatim from the presentation, mumble through their speech, or use way too many animations in their PowerPoint . Below are various presentations one has likely experienced, along with the solution on how to rectify it.

The Equipment Isn't Working

Many have experienced the scenario where the audience is settled, and the presenter is set and ready to start their presentation. All of a sudden, the projector doesn't work. Naturally, the presenter didn't bother to check out all of the equipment before starting.

To correct this presentation technique, it is recommended that presenters check out all of the equipment and rehearse their presentation, using the provided projector long before their time to present. Bringing extra tools needed like a projector bulb is a good idea, along with having a point of contact for a technician if things get beyond the presenter's control. If possible, presenters can check the lighting in the room they will be presenting in, prior to their time in the limelight, especially so they can dim the lights as needed during their speech.

Presenters may have experienced memorizing only the content of their presentation. In this scenario, someone in the audience may have a question and panic can set in. Because the presenter has not prepared for questions, all they know about on the topic is what is already written on the slides.

To rectify this situation, presenters should know their material so well that they could easily do the presentation without an electronic enhancement such as PowerPoint. Presenters can use keywords and phrases that include only essential information, to keep the audience focused and interested on the presenter. Lastly, speakers should be fully prepared for questions and know the answers or have an idea of how to guide the audience member.

The opposite of information underload, presenters may find themselves knowing  so much about a topic that they jump all over the place. This creates a situation where the audience has no idea how to follow the thread of the presentation because there is none. 

The way to fix this situation is to use the K.I.S.S. principle, which translates to "Keep It Simple Silly." When designing a presentation, presenters can stick to three or four points at most about their topic. Then, presenters can expand on the information so that the audience is most likely to absorb it and understand the main points being driven.

Reading Directly From the Screen

Imagine a setting where an audience member raises their hand and mentions that she can't read the slides. In this case, the presenter may graciously tell her that they will be reading the slides directly to her. As the presenter proceeds to do so, they look up at the screen and each of the slides is filled in with the text of their speech. The problem here is that the presenter is not needed if the slides provide all of the information for the audience members.

Simplifying the content is the key here. Presenters can keep the most important information near the top of the slides for easy reading in the back rows. They can also focus on one topic area and use no more than four bullets per slide. It's important for presenters to speak to the audience, not to the screen.

Using Visual Aids in Replacement of Scarce Content

Presenters might figure that no one will notice that they didn't do much research on their topic if they add many visual aids, like photos, complicated graphs, and other diagrams.

This mistake is huge. Presenters need to create presentations that include well-researched content and topics that the audience is looking for. Illustrating points with true substance is a good format to follow, and visual aids such as  photos, charts, and diagrams should be used in addition to content, to drive key points of the demonstration home. After all, visual aids add a nice break to the material but must be used correctly in order to enhance the overall oral presentation.

Setting the Font on the Slides Too Small

Small script type fonts might look great when audience members are sitting mere inches away from the monitor; however, presenters who don't consider audience members with poor sight, or those who are sitting a decent distance away from the screen, will miss out on an engaged audience who had the potential to read the slides.

It is best for presenters to stick to  easy-to-read fonts such as Arial or Times New Roman. Presenters should avoid script type fonts which are generally hard to read on screens. It is also suggested for presenters to use no more than two different fonts — one for headings, and another for content. Lastly, presenters should use no less than a 30 pt font so that people at the back of the room can read them easily.

Choosing Poor or Complicated Design Templates

Presenters sometimes make decisions in their presentation based on what they hear. For example, imagine a presenter who heard that blue was a good color for a design template or design theme. They may have found a cool template on the internet and went for it. Unfortunately, in the end, the presentation ends up being about a context that doesn't match the look and feel of the visual presentation itself.

This scenario can be easily fixed when presenters decide to choose a design template that is appropriate for the audience. A clean, straightforward layout is best for business presentation, for instance, while young children respond well to presentations that are full of color and contain a variety of shapes .

Including Too Many Slides

Some presenters go overboard with their slide count. For instance, imagine the presenter who recently went on a fantastic vacation cruise and included all 500 beach photos in their slides. Presenters who use too many slides, or too much personal content, are bound to hear snores in the room.

Presenters should ensure their audience stays focused by keeping the number of slides to a minimum. It is recommended to use 10 to 12 slides. Some concessions can be made for a photo album since most pictures will be on screen for only a short time, and this will require a judgment call based on how the audience will feel and respond.

Losing the Message With Animations

Presenters can forget the focus of their presentation when using too many animations and sounds with the goal to impress everyone. This ultimately fails to work most of the time, because the audience doesn't know where to look and will lose the message of the presentation.

While animations and sounds that are used well can heighten interest, it is important for presenters to keep them to a minimum. Otherwise, this flair will distract the audience. Presenters can design their presentation with the "less is more" philosophy so that the audience doesn't suffer from animation overload.

Picking out Unusual Color Combinations

Some presenters love unusual color combinations together, but a PowerPoint presentation is not the time to use them. For example, an orange and blue combination is unsettling to an audience and there may be people present who cannot see red and green due to color blindness.

Presenters should use good contrast with the background to make their text easy to read. Here are a few tips:

• Dark text on a light background is best but avoid white backgrounds. Tone it down by using beige or another light color that will be easy on the eyes. Dark backgrounds are very effective, but make a text a light color for easy reading.
• Patterned or textured backgrounds make text hard to read.
• Keep the color scheme consistent.

To be a good presenter , presenters need to be engaging with the audience and know their topic. Presenters should ultimately keep the presentation concise and include only relevant information. They should use an electronic enhancement, such as PowerPoint, as an accompaniment to their presentation to reinforce points, not as a crutch. Presenters should keep in mind that a slideshow is not the presentation — they are the presentation.

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Blog > Common mistakes in PowerPoint and what makes a bad presentation

Common mistakes in PowerPoint and what makes a bad presentation

08.09.21   •  #powerpoint #tips.

Creating and giving a good presentation is actually not that difficult. If you know how to do it. Otherwise, no matter how much effort you put into it, it can quickly turn out to be a bad presentation.

Here we show you some examples of bad PowerPoint slides and common mistakes that are often made in presentations so that you won’t make them in your next presentation and avoid "Death by PowerPoint".

1. Reading aloud instead of speaking freely

One aspect in bad presentations is often that the text is simply read out. Prepare your presentation so well that you can speak freely. The goal is to build a connection with your audience and get them excited about your topic. However, this will hardly be possible if you only read from a piece of paper or your computer the whole time. Your audience should feel addressed, if you just read off, they will be bored and perceive your presentation as bad, even if your content and your PowerPoint are actually good.

2. Technical Problems

The sound of the video you inserted on a slide is not on, your laptop does not connect to the beamer, or your microphone does not work. These are just some of the problems that could occur during your presentation.

But nothing is more annoying than when technical problems suddenly occur during a presentation or even before, when everyone is waiting for it to start. It interrupts your flow of speech, only distracts the audience from the topic and breaks concentration. So before you get started with your presentation, it is important to first start your PowerPoint in the place where you will give it later, practice there and familiarize yourself with the technology.

• Don't forget the charging cable for your laptop
• Find out beforehand how you can connect your laptop to the beamer. Find out which connection the beamer has and which connection your laptop has. To be on the safe side, take an adapter with you.
• Always have backups of your presentation. Save them on a USB stick and preferably also online in a cloud.
• Take a second laptop and maybe even your own small projector for emergencies. Even if it's not the latest model and the quality is not that good: better bad quality than no presentation at all.

3. Losing the attention of your audience

One of the most common mistakes in presentations is to lose the attention of your audience. Especially in long presentations it is often difficult to keep your audience’s attention and to avoid “Death by PowerPoint”. Anyone who has had this experience knows how uncomfortable it is to give a presentation where you notice that no one is actually really listening to you. Especially if your presentation is an eternally long monologue, it is difficult to get the topic across in an exciting way and to captivate the audience.

Our tip: Include interactive polls or quizzes in your presentation to involve your audience and increase their attention. With the help of SlideLizard, you can ask questions in PowerPoint and your audience can easily vote on their own smartphone. Plus, you can even get anonymous feedback at the end, so you know right away what you can improve next time.

Here we have also summarized further tips for you on how to increase audience engagement.

4. Avoid eye contact

You want your audience to feel engaged in your presentation, but if you avoid eye contact the whole time, they certainly won't. Avoid staring at just one part of the wall, at your paper or your computer. If the participants have the feeling that you are just talking to the wall, it is a bad presentation. Speak to your audience, involve them in your presentation and make it more exciting for them.

But also make sure you don't always look at the same two or three people, but address everyone. If the audience is large, it is often difficult to include everyone, but still try to let your eyes wander a little between your listeners and look into every corner of the room.

5. Speaking incoherently

Avoid jumping from one topic to the next and back again shortly afterwards. Otherwise your audience will not be able to follow you after a while and their thoughts will wander. To prevent this, it is important that your presentation has a good structure and that you work through one topic after the other.

Nervousness can cause even the best to mumble or talk too fast in order to get the presentation over with as quickly as possible. Try to avoid this by taking short pauses to collect yourself, to breathe and to remind yourself to speak slowly.

6. Many colors mixed with each other

Make sure that your presentation is not too colorful. If you mix too many colours, bad presentation slides will result very quickly. A PowerPoint in which all kinds of colors are combined with each other does not look professional, but rather suitable for a children's birthday party.

Think about a rough color palette in advance, which you can then use in your presentation. Colors such as orange or neon green do not look so good in your PowerPoint. Use colors specifically to emphasize important information.

It is also essential to choose colors that help the text to read well. You should have as much contrast as possible between the font and the background. Black writing on a white background is always easy to read, while yellow writing on a white background is probably hard to read.

7. Too minimalistic design

Even though it is often said that "less is more", you should not be too minimalistic in the design of your presentation. A presentation where your slides are blank and only black text on a white background is likely to go down just as badly as if you use too many colors.

Empty presentations are boring and don't really help to capture the attention of your audience. It also looks like you are too lazy to care about the design of your presentation and that you have not put any effort into the preparation. Your PowerPoint doesn't have to be overflowing with colors, animations and images to make it look interesting. Make it simple, but also professional.

8. Too much text

The slides of your presentation should never be overcrowded. Write only the most important key points on your slides and never entire sentences. Your audience should not be able to read exactly the text you are speaking in your PowerPoint. This is rather annoying and leads to being bored quickly. Summarize the most important points that your audience should remember and write them down in short bullet points on your presentation.

9. Many different animations

To avoid bad presentations it is important to never use too many animations. It looks messy and confusing if every text and image is displayed with a different animation. Just leave out animations at all or if you really want to use them then use them only very rarely when you want to draw attention to something specific. Make sure that if you use animations, they are consistent. If you use transitions between the individual slides, these should also always be kept consistent and simple.

10. Too many images

Bad presentation slides often occur when their design ist unclear and unorganised. Images and graphics in presentations are always a good idea to illustrate something and to add some variety. But don't overdo it with them. Too many images can distract from your presentation and look messy. Make sure that the graphics also fit the content and, if you have used several pictures on one slide, ask yourself whether you really need all of them.

11. Too many or unreadable fonts

Never combine too many fonts so that your presentation does not look messy. Use at most two: one for headings and one for text. When choosing fonts, you should also make sure that they are still legible at long distances. Script, italic and decorative fonts are very slow to read, which is why they should be avoided in presentations.

It is not so easy to choose the right font. Therefore, we have summarized for you how to find the best font for your PowerPoint presentation.

12. Images as background

To avoid bad presentations, do not use images as slide backgrounds if there should be also text on them. The picture only distracts from the text and it is difficult to read it because there is not much contrast with the background. It is also harder to see the image because the text in the foreground is distracting. The whole thing looks messy and distracting rather than informative and clear.

13. Reading from the slides

Never just read the exact text from your slides. Your audience can read for themselves, so they will only get bored and in the worst case it will lead to "Death by PowerPoint". You may also give them the feeling that you think they are not able to read for themselves. In addition, you should avoid whole sentences on your slides anyway and only have listed key points that you go into more detail then.

14. Turn your back

Never turn around during your presentation to look at your projected PowerPoint. Not to read from your slides, but also not to make sure the next slide is already displayed. It looks unprofessional and only distracts your audience. In PowerPoint's Speaker View, you can always see which slide is currently being displayed and which one is coming next. Use this to make sure the order fits. You can even take notes in PowerPoint, which are then displayed during your presentation. You can read all about notes in PowerPoint here.

15. Forgetting the time

Always pay attention to the time given. It is annoying when your presentation takes much longer than actually planned and your audience is just waiting for you to stop talking or you are not able to finish your presentation at all. It is just as awkward if your presentation is too short. You have already told everything about your topic, but you should actually talk for at least another ten minutes.

Practice your presentation often enough at home. Talk through your text and time yourself as you go. Then adjust the length so that you can keep to the time given on the day of your presentation.

16. Complicated Structure

The structure of your presentation should not be complicated. Your audience should be able to follow you easily and remember the essential information by the end. When you have finished a part, briefly summarize and repeat the main points before moving on to the next topic. Mention important information more than once to make sure it really gets across to your audience.

However, if the whole thing gets too complicated, it can be easy for your audience to disengage after a while and not take away much new information from your presentation. So a complicated structure can lead to bad presentations and "Death by PowerPoint" pretty quickly.

17. Inappropriate clothes

On the day of your presentation, be sure to choose appropriate clothing. Your appearance should be formal, so avoid casual clothes and stick to professional dress codes. When choosing your clothes, also make sure that they are rather unobtrusive. Your audience should focus on your presentation, not on your appearance.

18. Inappropriate content

Think about who your audience is and adapt your presentation to them. Find out how much they already know about the topic, what they want to learn about it and why they are here in the first place. If you only talk about things your audience already knows, they will get bored pretty soon, but if you throw around a lot of technical terms when your audience has hardly dealt with the topic at all, they will also have a hard time following you. So to avoid "Death by PowerPoint" in this case, it is important to adapt your presentation to your audience.

You can also ask a few questions at the beginning of your presentation to learn more about your audience and then adapt your presentation. With SlideLizard , you can integrate polls directly into your PowerPoint and participants can then easily answer anonymously from their smartphone.

19. Too much or unimportant information

Keep it short and limit yourself to the essentials. The more facts and information you present to your audience, the less they will remember.

Also be sure to leave out information that does not fit the topic or is not relevant. You will only distract from the actual topic and lose the attention of your audience.

20. Monotone voice

If you speak in a monotone voice all the time, you are likely to lose the attention of your audience. Make your narration lively and exciting. Also, be careful not to speak too quietly, but not too loudly either. People should be able to understand you well throughout the whole room. Even if it is not easy for many people, try to deliver your speech with confidence. If you are not enthusiastic about the topic or do not seem enthusiastic, you will not be able to get your audience excited about it.

Examples of bad presentations to download

We have created a PowerPoint with examples of bad presentation slides and how to do it right. You can download it here for free.

Related articles

About the author.

Helena Reitinger

Helena supports the SlideLizard team in marketing and design. She loves to express her creativity in texts and graphics.

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Pop-up events.

Pop-up events only last for a short period of time, such as only for one night or one month. An example: Another location of a shop is opened for only one month to extend the reach.

Interpersonal communication

Interpersonal communication is face-to-face communication. It means that people exchange information and feelings through verbal and non-verbal messages.

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Process questions are similar to recall questions but they need some deeper thoughts and maybe also analysis.

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formal communication should be used for speeches or at work

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10 Ways to Avoid Presentation Failure

April 28, 2023

We’ve all sat through bad presentations – the kind that make you want to check your email or scroll through your social media. Maybe you’ve even had a presentation failure at work.  

But why do some presentations fail to engage and inspire, while others leave a lasting impression  , preparing a business presentation is a real skill; a core business skills.  and it’s a skill you can learn.  over the last 15 years we’ve coached thousands of people to be brilliant business presenters. , do please call us and we’ll tell you about our business presentation coaching – it’s fast and good value., in the meantime, we share the top reasons for bad presentations, with tips on how to avoid the fails., here are 10 reasons for presentation failure.

Let’s review each of these reasons in more detail:

1. You don’t prepare enough

If you haven’t put in the time to research and rehearse your presentation, it will show. You’ll deliver a bad presentation. You may fail to land your message, stumble over unfamiliar words, or struggle to answer questions from the audience. Make sure you give yourself enough time to prepare and practice to avoid presentation failure.

2. You have a poor structure

A poorly structured presentation can leave your audience floundering, unable to follow your train of thought, leaving them bored and disengaged.  Take time to plan.  What’s the overarching message or purpose?  What are your key points and are you providing clear evidence for each one?  Does your presentation have a logical flow? And, most importantly, do you start with a powerful opening and close strongly?

Contact us for a free consultation on your coaching needs

3. Over-reliance on slides

Slides can be powerful visual aids, but if you rely on them too heavily, you are on track for a presentation fail.  Slides should support your presentation, not drive it. You should be the focus of the audience’s attention, not your PowerPoint deck. 

Perhaps you don’t even need slides at all – many business leaders never use them.  Or think about what other visual aids you could use instead – powerful pictures, physical products, films or flip charts.

4. Lack of energy and enthusiasm

If you’re not excited about your presentation, your audience won’t be either.  If you look bored, they’ll feel bored.  Make sure you bring energy and enthusiasm to your talk.  Smile, make eye contact, use a strong and confident voice. 

Show that you’re passionate about your topic, that it’s important to you, that you believe what you’re saying.  Your enthusiasm will be contagious – and it will help you carry your audience with you. 

5. Ignorance of your audienc e

Have you thought about what your audience really wants and expects from your presentation?  What’s in it for them?  If you don’t take the time to understand their needs and interests, you’ll lose them.  If you lose your audience you’ll have a presentation failure.

Instead, carefully consider what matters to them, show you care about them.  Use language and examples that resonate with them.

6. Too much jargon

Jargon and technical language can be confusing and off-putting for your audience, especially if they’re unfamiliar with your business.  A typical bad presentation includes too much industry-specific jargon, acronyms and technical terms.  

The best presentations use simple, clear language.   Sometimes it helps to imagine that you’re a teacher, explaining difficult concepts to a teenager.  If your 15-year-old niece or nephew grasps your story, so will everyone else.

7. Lack of engagement

Making an emotional connection with your audience can often make the difference between a successful presentation and a failed presentation.  

Try asking questions, soliciting feedback and encouraging participation.  Get your audience involved.  Make them feel engaged.

8 . You are too formal in your presentation

Your presentation should reflect your personality and individual style.  If you’re too formal or stiff, it will feel as if you’re holding your audience at arms’ length, lecturing rather than informing them.  Be authentic and let your personality shine through.

9 . Irrelevance

There’s no point giving a technically brilliant presentation if it’s out of date or simply not appropriate for your audience. Your material should be relevant and timely. Keep it as topical as possible.  Use up-to-date data, anecdotes and examples. 

Avoid talking about things that may be interesting in their own right, but have no relevance to the subject of your presentation – or your audience may simply tune out.

10. No clear call-to-action

It’s important you’re clear about what you want your audience to do, think or feel at the end of your presentation.  A clear call-to-action is always the best way to close.  It may be that you want them to buy into a big change in your business, or take part in a survey.  Or you may just want to challenge them to think differently about something, or make a change in their behaviour.  To avoid bad presentations make sure your audience knows what you want them to do – and make it easy for them to do it.

How to be sure your presentation does not flop

Discover why presentations fails and avoid failed presentations.

How to Make Sure Your Presentations Don’t Flop

Great presentations take careful planning and preparation. By avoiding these 10 common pitfalls, you can create something that engages, informs, and inspires your audience.  You’ll avoid a failing presentation at work.

Remember to focus on their needs, inject energy and enthusiasm. Start strong and end with a clear call-to-action. With these simple tips, you can ensure your presentation doesn’t flop, but leaves a lasting impression.

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We’ll help you create a powerful first impression that hooks and engages your audience immediately, and we’ll transform you to deliver clearly, confidently and with impact.

Speak to Louise on +44 20 7018 0922 or email [email protected] to find out more and discuss transforming your speeches, pitches and presentations.

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Bad Presentation At Work | Best 5 Tips To Avoid Disastrous Experience in 2023

Jane Ng • 01 Nov 2023 • 9 min read

I gave a bad presentation at work . I am finding it hard to face people in my office now. How should I get over it? – This is an evergreen topic on popular forums like Quora or Reddit. Most of us working people seem to have problems with presentations and do not know how to overcome this pain. 

Hey! Don’t worry; AhaSlides would be more than happy to help you by giving common mistakes everyone might face & how to fix them.

Table of Contents

• #1 – “Can I refuse to do a presentation at work?”
• #2 – Why Do We Have To Present Despite So Many Embarrassing Experiences?
• #3 – The Most Common Mistakes In A Bad Presentation And How To Fix It?
• #4 – 5 Ways to Recover From Bad Presentation
• #5 – Use an Interactive Presentation Software To Make Your Dream Speech Come True
• #6 – How AhaSlides can help you!
• #7 – Conclusion
• Frequently Asked Questions

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‘ Can I Refuse To Do A Presentation At Work? ‘

This question must be on the minds of people who fear public speaking . 

This fear can happen due to fear of failure, audience, high stakes, and being the centre of attention. Thus, when faced with a presentation, many people experience the classic fight-or-flight response such as heart palpitations, tremors, sweating, nausea, shortness of breath, dizziness, and resulting presentation problem that makes the “a sad memory” such as:

• You turn your presentation into a lullaby that makes everyone yawn, roll their eyes, or keep checking their phones to see when you’re done.
• Your mind goes blank. No matter how many times you practice, just being on the stage makes you forget everything that needs to be said. You start standing still or drunk with nonsense. Make the presentation end with shame.
• You are running out of time. This could result from not timing your rehearsal first or technical problems. Whatever the reason, you end up making a bad presentation that makes the audience not understand what you are trying to convey.

Why Do Present Despite So Many Embarrassing Experiences?

The answer is that presentations bring many benefits and are essential for product launching, marketing strategy, company trend reports, and many more.

• Product Presentation: Product presentations are a great opportunity to showcase your newly built or renovated feature products to the world. The purpose of this presentation is built around the introduction/improvement of your product to suit your users best or share about a new product with potential investors. You can take Apple’s iPhone launch as a typical example. 

• Marketing Presentation: No matter how quality your products or services are, they still require a proper marketing strategy to be known and be able to sell to your intended audience. So marketing presentations will come into play to the board of directors or other shareholders. They will decide if those strategies are feasible or not.
• Data Presentation: Once in the business, you will have to familiarize yourself with the numbers and reports that come from every department, like revenue reports, monthly/quarterly data reports, growth reports, etc. Therefore, to present data visually, easy to understand, and to remember with the leadership and related departments, you need to have a data presentation.

So if you don’t improve your presentation skills and still make one or more bad presentations, you will soon be out of business. Watch out!

Common Presentation Mistakes In A Bad Presentation And How To Fix It

What makes a bad presentation? Here are 4 common mistakes that even professional speakers can make & tips to fix:

Mistake 1: No preparation

• Great speakers always prepare. They know the topic to talk about, have an outline of the content, design impressive slides, and carefully study the key issues they want to present. Many people only prepare their presentation material 1-2 days or even hours before the presentation. This bad habit leads to the audience only hearing vaguely and not understanding what is happening. Since then, bad presentations have been born.
• Tips: To optimize audience perception and get the results you want after your presentation, practice speaking out loud at least once before standing on stage.

Mistake 2: Too much content

• Too much information is one of bad presentation examples. With the first presentations, you inevitably get greedy, cram too much content at once and include tons of videos, charts, and images. However, when all these types of content are used up, the presentation will become lengthy, with too many unnecessary slides. As a result, you will have to spend time reading the letters and numbers on the slide and skipping the audience.
• Tips: Outline the highlights you want to convey to your audience. And remember that the fewer words, the better. Because if a slide is too long, you will lose the audience by lacking connection and convincing. You can apply The 10 20 30 Rule . 

Mistake 3: No eye contact

• Have you ever witnessed a presentation where the speaker spends all of his time looking at his notes, the screen, the floor, or even the ceiling? How does this make you feel? That is one of examples of bad presentations. Looking someone in the eye helps establish a personal connection; even one look can draw an audience. If your audience is small, try to make eye contact with each individual at least once.
• Tips: To make a visual connection, eye gestures directed at each person must last at least 2 to 3 seconds or long enough to say a full sentence/paragraph. Effective eye contact is the most important nonverbal skill in a speaker’s “toolbox”.

Mistake 4: Discrete presentation

• Although we spend most of our day talking to each other, speaking to an audience is a difficult skill and one that we need to practice regularly. If anxiety causes you to rush your presentation, your audience may miss important points.
• Tips: Stabilize your mind by taking deep breaths to prevent confusion. If you start talking nonsense, it will take some time for you to settle down. Take a deep breath, and pronounce each word clearly as you focus on slowing down.

Keys Takeaways

It takes a lot of practice and effort to get a good presentation. But your presentation will be much better if you avoid common pitfalls. So here are the keys:

• Joint presentation mistakes include not preparing properly, providing inappropriate content, and speaking poorly.
• Check the location and familiarize yourself with the device first to avoid possible problems.
• Keep your presentation clear and concise, and use appropriate visual aids.
• Make sure you mention terms that are in line with your audience’s understanding so that your presentation avoids confusion.

But this part is just a way to deal with the technical aspects, prepare for a good presentation and help you to avoid “ Death by PowerPoint “. 

As for those who have lived with disaster experiences of a bad presentation, the next section is your mental recovery.

5 Ways To Recover From A Bad Presentation

To help you through the nightmare named a bad presentation, please do the methods given below: 

• Accept disappointment: It’s not always a good idea to “think positively” because feeling uncomfortable is normal . Accepting disappointment will allow you to let it go more quickly and move on. Give yourself time to endure the sadness and get up to the fight.
• Practice self-compassion: Don’t treat yourself in too harsh ways. For example, “I am a loser. No one wants to work with me anymore.” Don’t talk to yourself like that. Don’t let yourself lower your self-worth. Talk to yourself like you would speak to your best friend.
• It doesn’t mean anything about you: A lousy presentation doesn’t mean you’re a disaster or not qualified for the job. There will be factors you can control or not, but whether it’s the presentation’s content or the technical problem, your presentation disaster means nothing about who you are.
• Use failure as a motivation: A lousy presentation is an opportunity to figure out why it went wrong and to improve on the next production. You can learn more about how to avoid common mistakes that cause bad speeches here .

Use Interactive Presentation Software To Make Your Dream Speech Come True

Using Interactive Presentation Software has excellent benefits and can turn your bad presentation into a great one. It:

• Increase audience engagement, allowing them to connect with you and the purpose of your presentation.
• Improve retention. 68% of people say it’s easier to remember information when the presentation is interactive.

AhaSlides is cloud-based interactive presentation software that allows you to organize fun, interactive presentations for all your needs, with quizzes, live Q&A, word clouds, brainstorming slides, etc. 

Audiences can join the presentation from their phones and interact directly with the display with lots of attractive interactive options.

Learn more at AhaSlides’ template library !  

How AhaSlides for Business Works for You

Team meetings.

Create exciting virtual team meetings with AhaSlides. Engage your team with a live survey for instant feedback on how things are going with your business, any concerns the group may have, and any new ideas that colleagues think of. This not only creates opportunities for new ideas but makes your team feel listened to and cared for.

Team Building Sessions

Even virtually, you can create meaningful team building activities to get your team participating and working better with each other. 

An online quiz can be a great way to have everyone involved, or use our spinner wheel feature for an icebreaker game such as Never Have I Ever . These team-building exercises can be used as a social activity or during work hours as a break to get the team re-energised.

Project Kickoff

Get your team prepared with a well-organised kickoff meeting for your next project. Introduce everyone to the project and get them settled with popular ice-breakers. Use live polls and Q&As to efficiently compile everyone’s ideas and opinions, leading to a practical goal-creation strategy. Then, assign all your tasks and get started.

You can also use AhaSlides business to check in periodically to see how everyone is getting on and if you’re all on the same page.

Sales Proposal/Pitch Deck

Create unique and bespoke sales proposals with eye-catching business presentations. Include your branding and edit to suit your audience. Make sure your pitch gets noticed with amazing features such as polling, Q&A and brainstorming, then complete the captivation with highly visual slides.

Brainstorming Ideas

Use good old-fashioned brainstorming , with a modern twist to get ideas flowing. Start with an icebreaker or game to get your team energised and their brains active. The closer the group feels to each other, the more likely they are to share their ideas.

In Conclusion

Remember, public speaking is a performance. So, to avoid bad presentations at work, you must prepare and practice many times to make it perfect. Don’t lose confidence in yourself because of a bad representation for once. Follow AhaSlides articles to learn more about this topic!

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is a bad presentation.

A bad presentation fails to convey effectively its vital message to listeners and leaves an uncomfortable impression. It is confusing, unprofessional, less engaging, and don’t attract audience’s attention.

What are the effects of a bad or poor presentation?

The audience might find it challenging to understand the presenter’s points. Besides, they may feel that it is only a waste of time when listening to a bad presentation, which leads to frustration and disappointment.

A writer who wants to create practical and valuable content for the audience

More from AhaSlides

7 ways to give a BAD presentation

1. Do a minimal amount of preparation Of course no one would be stupid enough to do no preparation. But, if you want to give a bad presentation, try just doing a tiny amount of preparation. Just scribble down your thoughts maybe the night before your presentation.

Whatever you do, don’t start thinking about your presentation days or even weeks in advance. Psychology tells us that people often have “Eureka!” moments – times when they come up with great ideas – when they think about a topic and then set it aside to focus on other things. So, to make sure you have no time to come up with inspirational ideas, make sure you do only a tiny bit of preparation just before your presentation.

2. Forget about structure Good presenters think about the right order in which to put their material. So, if you want to give a bad presentation, don’t do this.

For example, good presenters sometimes use the “problem-solution” structure. At the start of their presentation, they might introduce their presentation and say something like: “I’m going to point out four major problems we’re facing, and then I’ll tell you about the solutions to each one.”

Another common type of presentation structure is based on an acronym. For instance, when I give presentations on how to tell stories, I often use the SOAR acronym, which stands for Situation, Obstacles, Actions, Results. By using the four-letter acronym SOAR, I provide people with an easy way to remember the four stages of storytelling.

There are lots of different presentation structures. But the key to giving a bad presentation is to make sure you don’t use any at all.

3. Don’t do any rehearsal I do a lot of one-to-one training and coaching with managers who need to make a great impact. And they often rehearse their presentations two, three, four or even more times. Yes, when a presentation is really critical, they rehearse, get feedback and rewrite their content multiple times.

So, if you’re looking to give a bad presentation, don’t rehearse at all. By avoiding rehearsal, you’ll hesitate and have more “um” and “ah” words in your presentation – you definitely won’t sound confident. This way, you’ll help yourself on the way to giving a memorably bad presentation.

4. Read from a script or slides One of the best ways to annoy an audience is just to read from a sheet of paper or the note cards in your hands. Reading a script means you can’t make eye contact, which is a guaranteed way to give a bad presentation. To be honest, I don’t see this happening very often. However, I do see a lot of people reading from their slides, which should also ensure you give a bad presentation.

If you are mainly just reading your slides, then you make yourself redundant. After all, you could just send your slide deck to people and have them read it for themselves.

Good presenters add further value by adding in further insights. But as this piece is about how to give a bad presentation, then make sure you don’t add in any further comments or additional explanation at all.

5. Forget about engagement or entertainment Bad presenters think of presentations as being opportunities to communicate only factual information. So, make sure you just state the facts while maintaining the same tone of voice and using the same pacing throughout your presentation.

In contrast, good presenters understand that it’s important to engage and even entertain an audience. If an audience isn’t attentive, they’ll chat amongst themselves or just check their phones.

Good presenters are like great actors – they vary how they use their voices. They speak more loudly or more softly at times. They allow the pitch of their voices to go up when they are enthusiastic or using humour; they allow the pitch of their voices to go down when they are discussing more serious topics.

Great presenters also often prepare amusing comments or think about funny situations that they can talk about. Their humour may seem spontaneous, but it’s often not.

Anyway, to deliver a bad presentation, just stick to communicating dry facts in a monotonous voice. Don’t use rhetorical questions to get your audience thinking. Don’t ask actual questions to get your audience involved. And to ensure that you don’t accidentally engage or entertain your audience, make sure you never introduce the occasional photo, video or touch of humour either.

6. Don’t get feedback on how you come across One of the best ways to ensure you give bad presentations time after time is to avoid asking for comments and advice on how you come across. Don’t ask for feedback from colleagues and customers. And definitely don’t ask for constructive criticism and help from a professional coach.

A great way to stay bad is to assume that people in your audience will spontaneously offer you their comments and advice. The truth is that most people don’t like to deliver negative messages – so even when they see really bad presenters, they usually don’t say anything.

Even asking people in an audience how you came across often doesn’t work. Audiences are so reluctant to be critical in person that they often mumble platitudes designed to keep a presenter happy – rather than help the presenter to improve. The only way to get good quality feedback is to get people to write their comments anonymously.

So, to be bad – and stay bad – at presenting, don’t seek out the guidance of a coach or the anonymous written feedback of audiences.

7. Don’t include any stories, anecdotes or examples Talking about facts and plans is the best way to ensure you are perceived as someone who is giving a bad presentation. So, make sure you include plenty of statistics and pieces of data. Talk endlessly about the actions that you have taken or the upcoming plans that your audience should be aware of.

To be a bad presenter, don’t include any stories, anecdotes or examples in your presentation. After all, examples can help to make abstract concepts more easily understood. Stories can sometimes generate emotions, which would make your presentation more engaging and memorable, too. Anecdotes about things that have happened to you or other people can give audiences a breather from the relentless pace of most presentations.

I often see presenters making several of these mistakes at the same time. But if you are determined to be truly bad at giving speeches and presentations, try doing all 7 at the same time.

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Module 8: Developing and Delivering Business Presentations

Bad presentations, learning outcomes.

• Discuss common mistakes in presentations

For many, the prospect of developing and delivering a business presentation rates right up there with death and taxes. Interestingly, that same mixture of fear and loathing is often felt by audience members as well. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The ability to craft a compelling story is a skill as old as the human race, and the need to communicate is as primal and potentially powerful.

Figure 1. Akhenaten as a sphinx, and was originally found in the city of Amarna.

For millions of years before the invention of modern technology, humans used the tools available to perpetuate traditions and culture and to document—and often rewrite—history. Do a few internet searches and immerse yourself in the Egyptian tombs; the caves of Chauvet; or El Castillo, the Temple of Kukulcan. What you’re experiencing is a feat of both artistry and communication. Although we don’t know the full significance of these early carvings and structures, there’s no doubt that these early humans captured their world view in a way that is still deeply resonant. While the tools have changed, the communication challenges—and opportunity—remain the same: to communicate an engaging and inspiring point of view.

Regardless of whether you want to change the world, build your brand, or build a billion-dollar business, effective presentation skills are essential. To quote legendary investor, philanthropist and Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Warren Buffet, “If you can’t communicate and talk to other people and get across your ideas, you’re giving up your potential.” [1] As would be expected of a numbers person, Buffet has quantified his point in talks on student campuses and professional organizations. Speaking at his alma mater in 2009, Warren Buffett told Columbia Business School students that he believed learning effective communication skills could translate into 50 percent higher lifetime earnings.

Given our vibrant storytelling tradition and with so much at stake, why are there still so many bad presentations? Wouldn’t you think that modern communication technology—considering the advances in graphics and communications software alone!—would lead to more compelling presentations? Interestingly, the problem is, to some extent, the technology. It’s estimated that 30 million PowerPoint presentations are created every day, with (seemingly) a majority of presenters opting for default layouts and templates. The problem is, we’re wired for story, not bullet points. A related failure is our use of available technology.

Seth Godin has a wonderful—and instructive—rant on these points: Really Bad PowerPoint (and how to avoid it) , blaming Microsoft wizards, templates, built-in clip art and lazy presenters for ineffective presentations. In response to a question regarding “death by PowerPoint” on the TechTarget Network, Margaret Rouse provided this definition: “a phenomenon cause by the poor use of presentation software,” identifying the primary contributors of this condition as “confusing graphics, slides with too much text and presenters whose idea of a good presentation is to read 40 slides out loud.” [2]

So how do we avoid causing “death by PowerPoint”—or by whatever presentation software we use? The common denominator of presentation mistakes is that they represent a failure of communication. This failure can be attributed to two errors: too much or too little. The error of too much is generally the result of trying to use slides as a teleprompter or a substitute to a report, or, it would seem, to bludgeon the audience into submission. Of course, this tends to have an alternate effect, namely, prompting audience members to walk out or tune out, turning their attention instead to doodling or their device of choice.

What bad presentations have too little of is emotion. Presentation expert and author of the classic Presentation Zen (and 4 related books) Gar Reynolds captures the crux of the problem: “a good presentation is a mix of logic, data, emotion, and inspiration. We are usually OK with the logic and data part, but fail on the emotional and inspirational end.” [3] There’s also a hybrid too little-too much mistake, where too little substance and/or no design sensibility is — in the mind of the presenter — offset by transitions and special effects. Heed Seth Godin’s advice: “No dissolves, spins or other transitions. None.” [4]

The 10/20/30 rule, generally attributed to venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki, is a good guideline to help you achieve a “just right” balance in your presentations. Geared for entrepreneurs pitching their business, his advice is a discipline that would improve the quality—and, effectiveness—of most presentations. In brief, 10/20/30 translates to a maximum of 10 slides, a maximum of 20 minutes and a minimum of 30 point font. [5]

Figure 2. Your presentation should have no more than 10 slides, take no more than 20 minutes, and use type no smaller than 30 point font.

While this rule is a good starting point, it doesn’t overrule your audience analysis or understanding of your purpose. Sometimes, you may need more slides or have a more involved purpose—like training people in new software or presenting the results of a research study—that takes more than 30 minutes to address. In that case, go with what your audience needs and what will make your presentation most effective. The concept behind the 10/20/30 rule—to make new learning easy for your audience to take in, process and remember—should still be your guide even if you don’t follow the rule exactly.

How to Avoid Death By PowerPoint

For more on how to avoid causing death by PowerPoint, watch Swedish presentation expert and How to Avoid Death By PowerPoint author David Phillips TED Talk on the topic:

Practice Question

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Improve this page Learn More

• Gallo, Carmine. " How Warren Buffet and Joel Osteen Conquered Their Terrifying Fear of Public Speaking ," Forbes . May 16, 2013. ↵
• Rouse, Margaret. " What is death by PowerPoint? " TechTarget Network . ↵
• Reynolds, Garr. “ 10 tips for Improving Your Presentations Today ,” Presentation Zen. Nov 2014. ↵
• Godin, Seth. Fix Your Really Bad PowerPoint . Ebook, sethgodin.com, 2001. ↵
• Kawasaki, Guy. The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint . December 2005. ↵
• Bad Presentations. Authored by : Nina Burokas. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Echnaton (Akhenaten) as Sphinx. Authored by : Hans Ollermann. Located at : https://flic.kr/p/4nvAVm . License : CC BY: Attribution
• How to avoid death By PowerPoint. Authored by : David JP Phillips. Provided by : TED. Located at : https://youtu.be/Iwpi1Lm6dFo . License : All Rights Reserved

Bad presentation Synonyms

Bad replaced.

• poor presentation
• terrible presentation
• awful presentation
• substandard presentation

Definitions for Bad

• (adjective) falling short of a standard
• (adjective) not conforming to a high moral standard; morally unacceptable
• (adjective) causing or capable of causing harm

Synonyms for phrase

• poor performance
• evil appearance
• terrible show
• poor showing
• poor display
• poor demonstration
• poor offering
• evil delivery
• wrong introduction
• evil present
• poor production
• poor appearance
• poor delivery
• terrible performance
• inferior performance
• unpleasant introduction
• evil representation

BP abbreviation

Presentation replaced.

• bad performance
• bad present
• bad production
• bad appearance
• bad introduction
• bad representation
• bad arrangement
• bad suggestion
• bad showing
• bad display

Definitions for Presentation

• (noun) something given to someone without expectation of a return
• (noun) the activity of formally presenting something (as a prize or reward)
• (noun) the act of presenting a proposal

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• February 23, 2022

4 Main Differences Between Good and Bad Presentation

Written by Tom Caklos

Presentation designer

If you are reading this, there’s a chance that you are trying to nail your presentation.

As a presentation designer , I feel like I can give you a few interesting tips, that will dramatically improve your presentation.

No matter if it’s a presentation for an event, employees, or a school project. You can apply these literally in any industry.

Let’s kick off with the first point:

1. The amount of copy on each slide

When it comes to making a good presentation, it’s very important that you limit your copy on each slide.

Nobody wants to read a long essay on every single slide. It is simply boring.

Try to limit the amount of copy you have on each slide. For example, instead of writing a whole paragraph, you could probably put it in a few short bullet points.

As Seth Godin (marketing expert) once said: “no more than 6 words per slide!”. Of course, that’s a bit extreme and it takes a lot of storytelling skills in order to do that.

But if you can, try to limit the usage of the words on every slide and you will improve your presentation drastically!

2. Visuals & design

Now, since I am working as a professional presentation designer – it could sound like I am trying to sell you something.

But the reality is that humans are more likely to remember visuals than texts. We also respond better to visual-rich slides, so why not improve your design? The beautifully designed presentation also gives the vibes that you really care about your audience.

However, there is a one downside when it comes to design. It is very time-consuming. For ex. it takes me around 45 minutes to design every single slide.

So usually it takes me around 30 hours to design a presentation that is 45 slides long. It’s very time-consuming and exhausting process if you have to do it all by yourself ( if you need help, feel free to contact me ).

3. Easy-to-follow structure

Another difference is very easy-to-understand structure.

You need to align your slides with the storytelling – so your audience gets the message that you are trying to convey.

It’s very bad practice to jump from one topic to another when presenting, so that might confuse your audience.

4. Storytelling

Good storytelling can make the difference if you close a new client or no. It is a difference between getting new investors or continuing to struggle.

If you are presenting your deck only by reading from your slides – that could put many people off. It shows that you are not prepared.

That’s why you need to be able to basically talk to the audience as you would to your friends in a bar.

Making a connection with an audience is the hardest thing – but with good storytelling, this could be the easiest part of your presentation.

So these are only a few differences between good and bad presentation – but the most important ones.

If you are making your presentation in Powerpoint , Keynote or Google slides – feel free to reach out to me and I will be more than happy to give you some feedback & critique!

Thanks for reading my article! When I write, I always try to bring as much value as I can. If you're having any questions, or if you need any help, feel free to reach out to me!

Did you learn something new? Share it with your network!

Slides Count for 1 Hour Presentation – Here’s How Many Slides You Need

How Long Does It Take To Make a Presentation? (Answered)

How much do presentation designers charge? Updated rates 2022

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10 Bad PowerPoint Slides Examples to Avoid

Creating a presentation and putting all your efforts in, but even the slightest mistake or negligence can result in a bad PowerPoint slide. Understand the mistakes commonly made while creating PowerPoint presentations, examples of a bad PowerPoint presentation and how to avoid it.

A presentation serves two purposes: 1) it teaches your audience something new and 2) motivates them to take action. However, achieving these goals is only possible if your audience is engaged in your presentation. Your presentation is your story, whether hosting a webinar, teaching an online course, training a new employee, pitching a business idea, or sharing a project with your team. 

What you say matters; your audience’s attention matters. A successful presentation determines how many people connect with your story, how much they remember, and improvements for next time. Various elements in a presentation can make or break its look. Knowing and avoiding practices that can make your presentation dull and non-engaging is vital. 

We’ll walk through some examples of bad PowerPoint Slides to help you avoid common mistakes while creating a presentation. 

What Makes a Bad PowerPoint Presentation?

Everyone talks about good examples, but even a basic mistake can make your fantastic-looking presentation bad. Learning from really bad PowerPoint examples can be as valuable as following the best practices of good PowerPoint examples . Let’s walk through some of the bad PowerPoint presentation slides that would make your eyes ache and content so dull it could put an insomniac to sleep. 

With these really bad powerpoint examples, you can save your presentation from being a disaster and turn them into engaging slides:

• Too much text on slides
• Too many animations
• Using too many colors on one slide
• Being too minimalistic
• Using only pictures and difficult-to-understand fonts
• Keeping the image behind the text
• Flow charts on the slides do not make sense
• No symmetry in texts and pointers
• Using only bullet points and no paragraphs
• Keeping the size of the font too small

1. Too much text on slides 

PowerPoint is a handy tool, but remember, it’s there to enhance your presentation, not steal the spotlight from you. The key here is to make it a visual assistant that doesn’t simply mimic your words but assists you in giving visual suggestions. Overloading your slides with text is the fastest way to make your presentations dull and monotonous. Those walls of text can instantly overwhelm your audience, and we’ve all been there, irritated by text-heavy slides. 

Going further, scripting your entire speech on the slides can trip up even the smoothest talkers. We all know it seems easy to read word to word while giving presentations, but it kills the natural flow and direct interaction with your audience. Moreover, such text-heavy bad PowerPoint slides will result in a rigid, unengaging presentation and steal your spotlight.

Bad PowerPoint Slide Example with Excessive Text:

2. Too many animations 

There are plenty of PowerPoint animations , and they can be tricky to use. There are more than 150 animations in PowerPoint, and some presentations seem determined to test them all. However, it is vital to note that using a lot of animations and transitions can make your presentations look less polished and outdated. When everything on a slide is animated, it can be distracting and even exhausting for your audience. 

Moreover, excessive animations can be a headache for the presenter, too. If each element requires a click to appear or disappear, it’s not the most efficient approach, and it makes for a bad PowerPoint presentation example. Due to many animations and transitions, presenters inadvertently give away what’s coming next, disrupting their timing and distracting the audience, who start anticipating the next point instead of focusing on your words.

Bad PowerPoint Slide Example with Heavy Animation:

3. using too many colors on one slide.

Do not treat your PowerPoint presentation as a canvas. It is not a color pallet to mix and present different colors. Talking about color might seem like a deep dive, but you can be something other than a color theory guru to nail a good-looking presentation (though it’s a plus). Here’s the golden rule: KEEP IT EASY TO READ! 

Bright and flashy colors like red or neon might not be your best bet for a presentation.

Also, think about contrast to ensure your audience can read effortlessly. Simple combos, like black text on a white background or vice versa, work like a charm. Conversely, white text on a grey background can be a readability nightmare. Having non-contrasting colors can make for bad PPT examples, and nobody wants colors in their presentation to clash, right?

 Example of Worst PowerPoint Slide with Too Many Colors:

READ MORE: Effective Colour Palette Combination for Presentations

4. Being too minimalistic

Adding everything to your presentation is a problem, but not adding the required colors, graphics, and text is a bigger problem. It can make the slide look dull and empty. Sometimes, professionals can get carried away with the “less is more” idea. While using a variety of color palettes in one presentation can make it look unprofessional and strain the eyes, there are better options than going all-white. 

Keeping presentations too minimalistic might give off the impression – that you didn’t put in the effort. Plain slides are an example of a bad PowerPoint presentation and don’t motivate the audience to pay attention. 

Example of Bad PowerPoint Slide with Too Much Minimalism:

EXPLORE: 40,000+ PowerPoint Templates and Google Slides Themes

5. Using only pictures and difficult-to-understand fonts

Another example of bad PPT slides is cluttering the presentation with only graphics and difficult-to-understand fonts. Like with colors and animations, the “less is more” principle holds here. Your primary focus should be making your presentation easy to read and understand for your audience. Take fonts, for instance. Avoid ones like “Impact Typeface,” which have cramped letters. Fancy fonts, especially those that mimic italics, can be problematic too. 

Example of Ugly PowerPoint Slide with Difficult To-Read Font:

READ MORE: Best Presentation Fonts

Now, onto images. Stay moderate; too many images can distract your audience significantly if they overlap. When considering multiple photos, ask yourself if you need them all or if one can represent the others. Slides with an excessive number of pictures can be a visual mess. While images are great for illustrating points and reducing text, an overload makes your presentation look outdated.

6. Keeping the image behind the text

Whoever thought of using an image as a background probably missed the memo. Images and text simply don’t go well together. Overlaying text on an image makes for one of the worst PowerPoint presentation examples. Keeping the image in the background makes reading the text complex, and the main image needs to be clarified. With the mix-up of colors in the background, finding a text color that stands out is nearly impossible, and all those colors just pull your attention away from the words. To save your presentation from this disaster, avoid using images as slide backgrounds when you’ve got text to showcase.

Really Bad PowerPoint Slide Example with Invisible Text:

EXPLORE: Best PowerPoint Backgrounds Collection

7. Flow charts on the slides do not make sense

If you want to use flow charts in your PowerPoint presentation, this one’s for you. The first rule for flowcharts is simple: they should be easy to understand. A flowchart can explain things in a presentation, but a well-crafted PowerPoint should make sense. The flowchart, like the one shown below, will destroy the look of your slide and needs to be clarified. By seeing this bad PowerPoint presentation example below, you need to help understand what’s happening. What is connected to what? Therefore, even if you intend to simplify the information, it will only reach your audience with a clear flowchart. 

Bad PowerPoint Presentation Example with Messed up Flowcharts:

EXPLORE: Customizable Flowchart PowerPoint Templates

8. No symmetry in texts and pointers

The lack of balance or alignment between textual content and accompanying visual elements like arrows , bullets, or other pointers can make your presentations look unprofessional and unappealing. When text and pointers are haphazardly placed, it’s challenging for the audience to follow a logical flow of information, making up for a bad PowerPoint slide example. Without symmetry in your presentation, you’re only distracting your audience; they will be preoccupied with deciphering the relationship between the text and visuals.

Example of Bad PowerPoint Presentation with No Symmetry:

9. Using only bullet points and no paragraphs

Using only bullet points in your slide is one of the worst PowerPoint presentation ideas! In a PowerPoint presentation, simplifying paragraphs into bullet points is a smart move to make it more audience-friendly. However, it’s essential to clarify that this means more than merely slapping only bullet points and not including any paragraphs. 

Here’s a helpful rule of thumb: “Only use 5-8 bullet points”, and if you find yourself shrinking text to 12 or 10 points, you’ve got too much text on your hands, and you can’t put all of it in the bullets. Having overly lengthy bullet points might not be to everyone’s liking, and some even read like full-blown paragraphs.

Ugly PowerPoint Presentation Example with Just Bullets and No Paragraphs:

10. Keeping the size of the font too small 

Last on this list of bad PowerPoint examples is keeping the font size too small, making it look invisible. Font size plays a very crucial role in the presentation. Imagine being served a delicious pizza and handed a magnifying glass to find the toppings. Wouldn’t it kill the mood? The same applies to your PowerPoint presentation. Imagine everything in your slide is on point: the colors, the graphics, the animation, the information, but your audience can’t even read what you are presenting. A quick test is to stand at the back of the room where you’ll present, and if you can still read the font comfortably, then you’re good to go. 

Worst PowerPoint Presentation Example with Small Font:

Tips to Avoid Making the Worst PowerPoint Slides!

Creating a standout PowerPoint presentation boils down to two fundamental principles: 1) it must captivate visually and 2) convey clarity of message. Sometimes, the temptation arises to favor one at the expense of the other. The absence of a delicate balance between engagement and transparency unites all these ugly PowerPoint slides examples. Here are some things you should keep in mind:

• Avoid stuffing slides with too much text in an effort for clarity, which often results in a boring, overwhelming presentation that distracts from the speaker. 
• Refrain from overloading slides with excessive images or animations to boost engagement; it can backfire, resulting in confusion and an unprofessional look.
• Microsoft provides numerous resources to achieve a well-balanced look for your presentation, including colors, graphics, images, embedded videos, and animations. The key is to use them wisely. 
• Before finalizing any presentation, you can ask a few questions from a spectator’s perspective. Can I replace this lengthy sentence with a picture or a keyword? Are the fonts crystal clear? Do the visuals or animations prove distracting? Are the colors harmonious, or do they strain the eyes?

READ MORE: Most Important Presentation Tips

You can craft an exceptional PowerPoint presentation by balancing engagement and clarity perfectly. However, striking this balance requires a lot of practice. The best and worst PowerPoint presentation examples clearly show how to keep this equilibrium.  

As we’ve seen, it’s easy to take a presentation from good to worse by neglecting one side in favor of the other; the next time you’re gearing up to create a presentation, consider getting the help of professional presentation services . 

Presentation service providers like SlideUpLift can help you strike the perfect balance of engagement and clarity, ensuring your audience stays focused while your message shines through. Whether you want to tweak every part of your presentation or adjust the fonts and colors, going for a presentation service provider like SlideUpLift ensures that your unique style is consistently reflected in your slides. You can book a consultation call to learn more about these services.

Explore SlideUpLift presentation design services to create eye-catching PPTs. You can give the custom-slides service a shot.

Why are bad PowerPoint slides a problem?

Bad PowerPoint slides can hinder effective communication, leading to audience disengagement and a failure to convey your message. They can distract, confuse, or even bore your audience, ultimately defeating the purpose of your presentation.

What common mistakes result in a really bad PowerPoint Presentation?

Common mistakes that result in bad PowerPoint slides include overcrowding slides with excessive text or complex graphics, using small fonts, lacking visual consistency, and neglecting the balance between engagement and clarity. You can avoid this by engaging your audience, conveying your message clearly, and creating a visually appealing and well-structured presentation that supports your content effectively.

How can I improve my PowerPoint slides and avoid making bad ones?

You must focus on simplicity, use visuals wisely, maintain consistency in design and fonts, and balance engagement and clarity. In addition to all these points, getting help from professional presentation providers can help you make top-class presentations easily.

. Are there resources or services available to help improve PowerPoint presentations?

Yes, SlideUpLift is one of the most trusted professional presentation service providers. They provide design and content layout expertise, including PowerPoint templates , Google Slides templates , presentation services , custom slide services , etc. You can book a consultation call with us to learn more about these services.

Table Of Content

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adjective as in poor quality

Strongest matches

• unacceptable

Strong matches

Weak matches

• dissatisfactory
• substandard
• unsatisfactory

adjective as in harmful

• deleterious
• detrimental

adjective as in immoral

adjective as in mischievous

Strongest match

• disobedient
• ill-behaved
• misbehaving

adjective as in decayed

adjective as in severe

• distressing

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adjective as in sick

adjective as in sorry

• conscience-stricken
• crestfallen
• disconsolate
• downhearted

adjective as in distressing

• unfavorable
• unfortunate
• disagreeable
• discouraged
• discouraging
• displeasing

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Related words.

Words related to bad are not direct synonyms, but are associated with the word bad . Browse related words to learn more about word associations.

adjective as in awful, detestable

• contemptible
• reprehensible

adjective as in wrong; defective

• glitched up
• inappropriate
• out of order

adjective as in horrifying

• disheartening
• frightening
• intimidating

adjective as in outrageous; widely condemned

adjective as in offensive

Viewing 5 / 123 related words

Example Sentences

Finally, even in the worst-case scenario, in which a child does contract Covid-19, the outcomes of the disease are less severe in younger people than among older adults.

To be sure, people basically gambling with money they would be devastated to lose is bad.

In doing so, the app aims to bring more transparency to how social networks moderate hate speech by showing those who report it what is and isn’t deemed bad enough to be removed.

What investors do appear to have is conviction that earnings for the second quarter likely won’t be as bad as expected.

Sometimes, much as we hate to admit it, a bad race is simply a bad race.

We need to recover and grow the idea that the proper answer to bad speech is more and better speech.

I gotta say—I think this past year was pretty bad for music.

Ass-kicking, bad guy-killing Carter is just a future spinster.

They all immediately dashed out to their car to catch the bad guys.

Terrorism is bad news anywhere, but especially rough on Odessa, where the city motto seems to be “make love, not war.”

The "bad form" of telling a lie to the head-master is a later illustration of the same thing.

The men arrived in very bad condition, and many of them blinded with the salt water which had dashed into their eyes.

Their sin began on Holy Thursday, with so little secrecy and so bad an example, that the affair was beginning to leak out.

Conditions in the new country had gone from bad to worse, and if the season should experience another drought, the worst was come.

If any one has lost his temper, as well as his money, he takes good care not to show it; to do so here would be indeed bad form.

When To Use

What are other ways to say  bad .

When describing things that are lacking in moral qualities or are actually vicious and reprehensible, bad is the broadest and simplest term: a bad man; bad habits. Evil applies to that which violates or leads to the violation of moral law: evil practices. Ill now appears mainly in certain fixed expressions, with a milder implication than that in evil : ill will; ill-natured. Wicked implies willful and determined doing of what is very wrong: a wicked plan.

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On this page you'll find 307 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to bad, such as: atrocious, awful, cheap, crummy, dreadful, and lousy.

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.