A common mistake I see with business presentations at all levels is when the speaker’s words don’t match the visual on the screen.
More often than not the cause is because the slide for the previous comment stays on the screen too long. The speaker has moved on to a new topic or sub-point but there is no new slide — he or she just leaves the old one on the screen. This becomes a disconnect for the audience — two simultaneous messages that don’t work together.
What may be worse: the longer the slide and the words don’t match, the more obvious and distracting it can become.
There are at least two simple solutions.
- If you don’t have an appropriate visual then black out the screen — either with a blank slide or by using the black-out function in PowerPoint or Keynote.
- Increase your preparation efforts so that your words and subject areas have visuals that coordinate — even through the transitions.
Left on the screen too long, even the best slides start to stink.
