Presentation Skills: Proofreading Your Power Point Slides

Want a great tip for catching typos on your slides and handouts? Read your text backwards!

The reason? When you read Power Point slides or handouts the usual way (from left to right, top to bottom), your mind assumes what should be there based upon the content of the sentence. So, typos get missed.

Here’s an example:
“I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer inwaht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.”

To catch those typos, look at the document starting with the final word on the page and go backwards. Since you’re reading one word at a time, with no idea what “should be there” based upon the rest of the sentence, typos are easier to catch.

Finally, remember that even if you can’t catch every typo, you can still make a great presentation. After all, you don’t have to be perfect, to have an impact.