My business is in Power Point for the most part, so I've been delivering them on a professional basis as part of my job for 15 years.
NyQuil's 10 Rules of Power Point (maybe they're the same as the article - I forgot to check before typing this up):
1. My timing rule of thumb is one minute per slide. You'd think that you can go faster, but once you are up there, usually you can't.
And that includes title pages and table of contents slides. You will be surprised how much you can talk once you get going.
2. Don't ever never ever read your slides aloud.
Ever.
Let the audience read the slides. They have eyes. Talk to the slides but don't read them.
People can read slides in their head much faster than you can read them out loud, so they end up sitting there waiting for you to finish.
3. Building on 2, your slides should summarize your points for the most part. They should not be detailed content. You can create a report or document in Power Point format but you'd better not be delivering that document orally in a presentation.
The interesting detail is what you provide verbally, following the order of your major points.
4. As a result, the font size should be fairly large, because they are just the major points. People in the back won't be forced to squint. If you have more points than can fit on a slide, then break the list up into two slides.
5. If it's a longer presentation, try to show a Table of Contents or list of topics prior to just launching into it.
Tell them where you are going, how you are getting there, and where you will end up. Otherwise people don't understand why you are discussing things in a certain order and why it may be important.
6. To add additional structure, I like to use a system for my numbered slide titles (e.g. main titles with subtitle underneath, and then (1 of 2, 2 of 2) in brackets or something if I have to use two or more slides for a single issue or topic. People will inevitably ask for your slides and having a system for organizing the information into topics and subtopics helps.
Also, add slide numbers in case someone drops all the print-outs and needs to put them back in order.
Take the time to use Slide Masters properly and it allows you to make easy edits without having to change everything if you have to move things around in your presentation or cut it down for a different audience or timeframe. If you do it right, the slide numbers and topic/chapter numbers will automatically update when you move things around or add or remove content.
7. However, try to keep your presentations to 20 minutes. If you have to go longer, break them up and have question periods in between or discussions. People's eyes glaze over and they stop paying attention after about 20 minutes.
8. Try not to have slide after slide of just text. You have to add some tables, graphics, pictures, something, to break up the monotony of walls of text.
And use colours. I've seen actual delivery of black and white presentations and they make my eyes bleed and make me wonder if I've travelled back in time to the 1950s.
You can highlight particularly important text using a font in a different colour to attract attention. Don't actually use the highlighter.
9. Make sure you are clear to the audience on your Q and A policy before you start.
Some presenters like to have people interrupt whenever they feel like it, but often these questions are answered in a subsequent slide or two. They can also mess with your overall timing.
Typically I put in discrete slides where they can ask questions after a topic has been covered and I account for that in my timing.
10. Have fun out there. Be engaging. That's a big reason why reading is a big no-no. You want to make eye contact, and talk in conversational, easy to project language.
Use personal anecdotes or interesting trivia if you have to drive home a point.
I've seen incredible presentations on the most boring material imaginable and absolutely horrid presentations of truly fascinating stuff. The delivery is very important.