How to make a killer presentation on PowerPoint

REDUCE THE NUMBER OF SLIDES
We all know how boring presentations and speeches get when they go on for ages. No matter how much you think you need to add more slides, avoid doing so. Your presentation should contain no more than 15 slides, 20 at most. Use animations to make the subsequent information appear sequentially instead of in another slide. 

FONT SIZE AND FONT FACE MATTER
Typography can make or break a presentation. Don't lower your font size to anything less than 30. That'll ensure a proper balance between readability and text frequency. Also, use different fonts for headings, subheadings and body text. Don't take font pairing lightly, though. There are several guides out there on which fonts to use together. Follow those. 

LESS TEXT, MORE TALK
Your slides are there to help you, not the other way round. YOU are the most important part of the presentation and your slides make the entire thing look more engaging. Use each slide efficiently and display information that is absolutely crucial for the audience to know. If you need to explain something, it's better off being told face-to-face rather than through a screen.  

DIAGRAMS OVER BULLET POINTS
Bullet points are overrated. Sure they are precise and efficient when displaying info, but at the same time, they look very bland. If you're showing a process or talking about numbers, use small diagrams. Use connectors and colourful shapes to create a flow. They look more enticing than regular bullet points. 

NO LONG SENTENCES OR PARAGRAPHS
You grab your audience's attention through simple, precise lines that hit them with the right message. Don't use multiple paragraphs or you'll lose their focus. Long sentences must be avoided as they don't look good and can get cut off. This is where your writing skills kick in. Come up with compact sentences and avoid unnecessary adjectives.

FANCY ANIMATIONS ARE A NO
We get it. All those swirling and swishing and bouncing effects can be tempting. But taking the wild road can be risky. You want your slides to scream decency. Using simple animations that either fade in/out or appear from thin pixels, is a great way to do so. It makes the presentation look professional and your audience will take you more seriously. 

USE STRONG CONTRASTS
Make sure the background and the content colours contrast each other. Text colour, for example, should never be anywhere near the shade of the background. If you're including diagrams, use different colours for the different shapes and objects.

CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY
Everything from backgrounds to fonts to colours and even animations need to be consistent throughout the entire presentation. As you go through the slides, your audience gets used to the theme and any abrupt disruption in the flow becomes extremely irritating. 

ANIMATE CHARTS
Charts are used for showing information and look boring most of the time. But they can turn out to be amazing when you animate them. Microsoft PowerPoint has a nifty built-in feature to do this, and while you might need a little bit of time figuring it out, it's worth the effort. 

TRANSITIONS NEED TO BE SMOOTH
Make sure you don't forget this. Your slides aren't just sheets of paper stacked on top of each other. When you're moving from one topic to another, try to use another slide in between to introduce the new topic. Alternatively, time animations accordingly to introduce the new topic at the end of the previous slide. 

FLAT DESIGN IS NEAT
Every slide is an object where the design controls how your audience reacts to it. In 2016, you don't need to create complex designs with drop shadows and the whole shebang. Stick to flat design and you'll end up with beautiful slides.  

DON'T USE DEFAULT TEMPLATES
You want to stand out with what you do and using preset templates is the exact opposite. Everyone chooses them to take the easy way out and forgets the fact that they look uninteresting. You're a creative person—go design your own template or download custom ones from the internet. You won't regret the extra amount of work. 

MINIMALISM IS POWERFUL
Single objects, words or anything in a wide open background is powerful enough to instantly grab the attention. It makes a powerful impact and adds excitement to your presentation. Use minimalism for certain slides when you're taking a different turn in your speech.