Presentation Tips

I found all the tutorials and tip sheets full of helpful and informative suggestions on how to make a PowerPoint Presentation have a powerful impact. Generally I agree with most of the points brought up by the websites. The five main guidelines that I think are most important are:

1) Long text blocks are not good-- It's better to have a few bulletin points with key words rather than everything one is going to say on each slide. If one will just be reading off the slides verbatum, you might as well just hand out a printout of the slides and let the audience read them instead of taking the time to do a formal presentation.
2)Pictures are better than text-- Following the above rule, it is much better to have captivating images rather than blocks of text. It also give a point where you can tell a story and explain the meaning of the picture(s), rather than reading off the slide, which will be more interesting to the audience.
3)Have notes to refer to during the presentation-- This will make it easier during the presentation for you to remember all your points for each slide. This will also make it less tempting to write down more than keywords on each slide.
4) Image choice is important-- Depending on the type or presentation you want to give and the audience you are giving it to, this will change the type of images you will wont to use in your presentation. It is best to stick with professional images rather than clip art (which can come off as corny) for all of work related presentations. Only for certain audiences, such as children and a more relaxed/professional audience, can one use clip art and other more comical images in your presentation.
5)Video and audio is best when used appropriately-- Use of video and audio can boost the wow factor in your presentation and make the presentation more entertaining for both you and the audience. As long as the video and audio is extremely relevant and not annoying, it is a great addition to any presentation.