Improving PowerPoint Effectiveness

There's two schools of thought out there... (1) PowerPoint is fantastic, and (2) PowerPoint is a crutch used by poor presenters and make the presentations even worse. I've sat through endless slides in font 8 (we call them "eyecharts") and seen people read from bulleted lists and call that a "presentation" or even call that "training." People think they can overcome the boredom by animating the bullet points and putting up "cute" clip art. "Death by PowerPoint" is a cynical term I have heard.

I've got to admit I use PowerPoint, and I like it. I would say that I am an advanced-level user. As a way to improve my own PowerPoint skills I have ordered some books to help me get better at it, and in glancing over the books I am pretty impressed with what I see. As I digest the books I will give you more details. The books are:

(1) Better Than Bullet Points: Creating Engaging e-Learning with PowerPoint
(2) 7-Slide Solution: Telling Your Business Story In 7 Slides or Less
(3) slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations