Copywriting and editing presentations

How often have you cringed at a glaring typo or writing-style howler in a presentation? Writing presentations in PowerPoint and its peers is challenging enough without inadvertently including 'silent assassins' that distract your audience's attention. They may not realise why they are being distracted, but like a gunshot that kills before you hear the sound of its discharge, little things such as over-exuberant ellipsis points (............) and multiple exclamation marks (!!!!!!) really can derail an otherwise professional presentation.

It needn't be like that. If you don't have the time, specialist skills or inclination to polish your presentation's copy, and make sure the punctuation is in order, I can help. If you are writing a presentation, we should talk.

CALL 01242 520 573 now, or email for a quote
 

Picture: Elliott Richmond

More on editing and copywriting for presentations

It does and it doesn't surprise me that so many otherwise excellent PowerPoint presentations come complete with a slew of errors such as the following:

• Poor use of exclamation points ruins PowerPoint writing
• Excessive initial capitalisation
• Incorrect ellipsis points (3 is the magic number)
• Faulty punctuation
• Inconsistent headings
• Poor grammar
• Bad spelling (don't rely on spell check!)
• Incorrect subject:verb agreement
• Poor word choice
• Over-long sentences and bullet points

Errors creep in

It surprises me because I know how annoying and distracting it can be to see lots of things that are incorrect – even in talks by people with otherwise excellent presentational skills. But it also doesn't surprise me because of the pressures that people like you and me are usually under when we are writing PowerPoint presentations (or any kind of presentation for that matter). We've all been there, the clock's ticking, the presentation is approaching and we are rushing to include last-minute additions. That's when flaws are exposed in our English writing skills and errors creep in.

We see what we expect to see

What's more, even if you know how to write a presentation, polishing the copy, copy-editing and final checking aren't necessarily your strengths. When you've been close to your presentation for hours or days, it's easy to miss little details. Why? Because we see what we expect to see; not what's actually there. It's no reflection on your ability to design for PowerPoint – it's just a fact.

An independent set of eyes comes in handy

That's where an objective pair of eyes comes in handy, especially when they also come with copywriting and copy-editing skills. For instance, when Mike Newton of signmakers Graphity Design Solutions (and very good they are too) presented to Cheltenham's BNC networking group, he was thrilled to be able to hand his presentation over to me for a last minute 'spit and polish'. It went down a treat with the audience too – and no irritating distractions. Here's what Mike kindly said on LinkedIn:

I have known Al for the past 10 months, great guy to deal with. I was preparing for a presentation using power point and Al kindly mentioned a few changes that he would recommend. He suggested that I send him the file which he checked over, made a few changes and it was back with me 15 mins later.  My presentation was this morning and thanks to Al all perfect. Recommend him 100%.

Let's make your awesome presentation even better

You know how to write presentation copy, but I help make awesome PowerPoint presentations even better. For a no-obligation consultation on improving your presentation, please call 01242 520 573 or email me