The Do's and Don'ts of PowerPoint

Dear Professor Aburrido,

I heard someone snoring in last Tuesday's class. I'll be frank, I wanted to join in. 

I say this with a lot of love: I have attributed your snore-worthy teaching style to the way you use PowerPoint. PowerPoint is a tool, yes, but it must be used with caution. Not only can a presentation become boring, but vital information can be chopped up into unrecognizable, useless pieces. So, being the concerned and inspired student that I am, I have decided to break down the Do's and Don'ts of PowerPoint. 

1. 

DON'T: Read out long paragraphs verbatim from a PowerPoint slide

DO: Give a dynamic speech with only some key references noted on the slide

2. 

DON'T: use Frilly fonts or colors

DO: Use standard fonts, such as Verdana or Trebuchet and keep the text a standard color

3.

DON'T: Use Phluffy clip art

DO: Use strong, relevant images to tie in with your dynamic speech (see #1)

4. 

DON'T: Oversimplify and distill charts and information down to mind-numbing simplicity

DO: Post important charts or information in some entirety, and give students some silent wait time to read and process the chart - then point out the parts you want to emphasize

5. 

DON'T: Print out your PowerPoint as a way of disseminating information at your presentation

DO: Print out a longer pamphlet to give some anchor and accountability to your audience, but allow the foundation of your presentation to be your speech

6. 

DON'T: Use more than two tiers of bullet points

DO: Stick to one main tier of a topic and then one sub-tier of that topic

7.

DON'T: Display a slide that will not be personally expounded upon for relevance

DO: Make sure every single slide and every single bit of information is relevant and ties in with your speech

Thank you for reading, Professor Aburrido. Although, if you carefully apply these Do's and Don'ts, your name shall be Professor Dinámico!