Power Point Guidelines

After reading through several articles on Power Point presentations, I realized that creating a good presentation is harder than I thought. Here is a list of 5 guidelines I think are important.

1) Keep it simple - negative space is not a bad thing.  Too often people feel the need to cover every inch of the slide, and it makes the presentation confusing and jumbled.  I find this very very annoying. 

2)Limit the amount of words - The slides should prove what you are saying not repeat what you are saying.  You should not be reading directly from the slides, and you should not put every ounce of information on the slides.  

3)Avoid using Power Point templates - They are boring.  If you don't want your audience to fall asleep, be more creative. 

4)Use Colors Well - Color promotes feeling and emotions.  The right colors can help persuade and motivate.

5)Chose READABLE fonts - If your audience cannot read your slides, they will get frustrated, and will not get very much from your presentation. 

The most annoying thing to me is when someone feels the need to cover the whole slide with a hodgepodge of confusing information.  I get overwhelmed.