PowerPoint

Well, I have used PowerPoint in the past, and I'm sad to say that I did most of the things on the "Not-to-Do" lists. Mainly I got carried away with the fun transitions and such. Yeah I used a BUNCH of those. It's true though that if you want your PowerPoint to be effective, it needs to be professional. It should not take the focus away from you, but rather compliment what you are saying. I also fell victim to the number one classic mistake of reading directly off a PowerPoint presentation. Tips for PowerPoint are as follows:
1) Don't read directly off of a PowerPoint (It's boring and often you end up speaking towards the screen instead of the audience)
2)Use consistent transitions (all the fun zooming ones are reminiscent of eighth grade)
3) Keep the information concise, don't write a novel on every slide
4)Use appropriate graphics to compliment presentation, things that the audience can relate the presentation to, NOT clip art
5)Use legible fonts that are practical and easy to read
Mainly don't do what I used to, keep the PowerPoint simple and professional, it's really your presentation of the material that is going to matter anyway. PowerPoint can only take you so far.