This is a video produced by a presentation training company as an example of how NOT to make a PowerPoint presentation.

http://bit.ly/RBpg9W

The Presenter Center has a myriad useful PowerPoint tips.

This is just one ...

Text and Graphics shouldn’t compete for attention
Dont_Compete.JPGKeep text and graphics separated.  Text that is placed on top of graphics appears cluttered, busy, and competes for attention.  Click for makeover.
Read more... [Text and Graphics shouldn’t compete for attention]

Thanks OliviaMitchell

The use of PowerPoint as a presentation tool is well acknowledged and accepted. However, Fripp and Prost believe it is frequently used as a crutch that often distracts your audience from the main messages of your presentation. If you are using PowerPoint, why not learn the "inside secrets" of doing it the right way?

This 13-page eBook reveals those secrets by addressing different creation and presentation methods, as well as potential pitfalls that you should be aware next time you're using PowerPoint. It offers Fripp's PowerPoint Philosophy that allows you to best serve your message, as well as Prost's 21 Mistakes to Avoid when using PowerPoint. You'll receive practical advice and valuable guidance that is sure to provide a welcome improvement to your next presentation.

PDF Download

What Size Pictures Should I Use?

Those of us who include a lot of pictures in slide shows (hopefully everyone in the near future) need to think about the resolution of those pictures. Resolution, in a digital image context, is basically synonymous with quality. The higher your picture’s resolution, the higher its quality—in other words, the better it will look when printed or displayed. A high-resolution picture looks crisp and clear. A very low-resolution picture might look fuzzy or blurred.  ... more

 Vischeck, checks your slides (or other visual work) to make sure that color-blind people can actually see it. From the website:

Many pictures, documents and web pages are hard for color blind people to read because the people who designed them didn't think about the problem. Vischeck lets them check their work for color blind visibility. It is also interesting to anyone who is just plain curious about what the world looks like if you're color blind.

One in 20 people have some form of color blindness, and the problem is most acute with shades of red and green, so think of this as a way of ensuring that your audience has a fighting chance to pay attention to your slides.

 

I have been reading this book:  Relational Presentation by Robert A. Lane and Chantal Bosse

What a bad move that was!

Because this is a book to do, not a book to read.

If you want to move beyond bullet points, then this is where you can start.  This is the “how-to”.  The tone of the book is constantly  encouraging and it will give you the practical details at the level you need, whether you are a beginner, or already a user.  I enjoyed the detail on creating effects -  the information is there for you to use powerpoint to create stunning rich media effects.

Designing attractive slide visuals does not need to be a painful task. You don’t need to hire a design firm. You don’t need loads of expensive software.

You can design attractive visuals by following simple guidelines. One of these simple guidelines is the Rule of Thirds — a composition technique borrowed from photography and other visual arts that works wonderfully in PowerPoint.

In this article, you will learn:

* What is the Rule of Thirds?

* How do photographers use the Rule of Thirds?

* How can you apply the Rule of Thirds to Your PowerPoint slides?

Read on ...

To create effective backgrounds in PowerPoint is one of the most challenging tasks for a presenter, as balancing visual impact, layout balance, properly matching colors while keeping great legibility is nothing that I would consider easy. Article continues

Jan has a useful post about using 3D in Powerpoint -

Many 3D effects are NOT useful. Three dimensional graphs make it harder to match the data to the value axes. Adding "random" bevels, reflections and shadows to a PowerPoint object does not make it an elegant graphical element. The fact that PowerPoint can do it, does not mean you have to use it.
Why don't we use 3D for what it can do best: show distance? The example below shows a time line that we expect to last forever. 

http://adjix.com/4cn7