Text that’s too small. If you always sit 18 inches from the screen while creating presentations, it’s easy to lose perspective on how the slides will look on a big screen in a big room. Or, if you’re planning to present to a small group of clients at a meeting, you may need to consider how the slides will look on a notebook computer’s screen from across a conference table. Movie editors and directors are familiar with this problem, so during editing, they screen films on a big screen to get a sense of how different the action looks outside the editing room. You should do the same with your presentation.

Take time to review your slides in an environment like the one your audience will experience at show time. Click through each of the slides as you move among seats in the back row and on the sides of the room. You’ll often decide to bump up the font size a few points for greater readability. This kind of review may seem like a very obvious step to add to your slide production routine, but it’s one many presenters apparently skip, based on the amount of 14-point text they put up on the screen. Many experts say every word should be at least 24-point.

Bad background/text color combos. Nice, big letters aren’t worth much if you put black letters on a blue background. It’s important to guard against letting readability take a backseat to your artistic sensibilities for nice color combinations. For the record, that red-and-green Christmas color palette you love is nearly impossible to read on a screen.

Bad overprinting on photos. Many great-looking slides use photos that cover the screen. And many of these photos offer great spots for putting text (such as a light blue sky). But this design approach can quickly run into the problem above if you don’t choose type color carefully. And remember that some photos simply don’t have good places to put text. Placing text over something like leaves makes it practically unreadable.

Overly ornate fonts. Exotic fonts such as Magneto can play a subtle role in overall mood-setting, but don’t stray far from the basics when picking fonts for text amounting to more than a few words. Decorative fonts are harder to decipher, and that distracts from your message. If you really love Magneto’s atmosphere, use it for a few large words but stick to more straightforward fonts for most of the text.

Too many fonts. Sure, it’s tempting to mix a dozen or so of PowerPoint’s many fonts into one presentation. But as we said, many of those fonts are so complex that they don’t have much practical value. And even if you do find a dozen fonts that are perfect for the big screen, limit yourself to two or three in any given presentation. Mixing too many fonts creates a somewhat frenetic, inconsistent look.

Overly animated words. Many PowerPoint users lose control of animation pretty quickly, and if you have words flying onto the screen one letter at a time, you’re there. Animation is most effective in small doses. Occasionally, you can effectively animate each letter, but you’re usually better off animating entire words. And even then, stick to simple animations such as the fade-in and fly-in effects. Nobody’s catching your point if they’re watching flying letters.

Too many words. It sounds more obvious than any tip on this page, but many presenters still pack their slides with too much copy. Some experts suggest hard limits such as no more than six words per line and no more than six lines per slide. Even if you don’t follow such rules, walk away from your slides for a couple of days. When you revisit them for a second look, consider whether the text looks a little overwhelming. If so, split the text across more slides or consider whether you really need all those words in the presentation at all.