How to Create Modern and Simple Professional PowerPoint Presentations
PowerPoint has a nasty reputation of being aesthetically unpleasant because of loads of people not knowing how to create presentations that are not – well, ugly. Probably you are one of the guilty parties. That is why you found yourself reading this article. Well, you don’t need to be a designer to have a good taste in designing your templates. But you have to instill in your mind the following philosophies:

• Create your own template—Never use the templates bundled in with the software. They are specifically made for bullet point presentations that are as boring as waiting for a flower to bloom. Besides, millions of people have used the same template over and over again, you probably seen them a thousand times already. Also, do not use the default templates as your inspiration for your own themes. Their design philosophies are flawed, as mentioned earlier.
• Use Photos—The best shortcut in making presentations more visually appealing is adding visually appealing photographs. It can also almost immediately break your own making. Be very careful in using photographs, consider your presentation first. It is a rule of thumb when it comes to PowerPoint presentations to use the white background, but this is not necessarily true if you are using photographs. In business presentations, office workers on a bright white background are already overwrought. Find something new, or be creative. There are numerous sites that offer stock photography. You can nab some in Flickr, you can use them as long as you don’t use them commercially. It still largely depends on the Creative Commons license, though.
• Typography—No Comic Sans please. There have been lots of movements for the eradication of the font Comic Sans in the Internet and business settings. They are never meant for wall of texts or information on important matters. They are for comics in the first place. Typography can set the tone of your entire presentation. Go to the blocky fonts, if you want cleaner looks and modern vibes. Do not use weird, highly stylized fonts because they strike as unprofessional in the first place, and very hard to read.
• K.I.S.S. – Keep it simple, stupid. True, keep it simple. Make your point across immediately. Present the details you are discussing, and then discuss your details…in speech. Never go on paragraphs and paragraphs worth of text in your presentation.
• Colors—Do not use colors that make your kindergarten niece jump with joy and such. They are good for kids but not for adults. Can you imagine red text on yellow background emanating out of the projector? Everybody would have a headache almost instantly as soon as they lay their eyes over such disaster. Use rock solid dark colors to complement with your white text. You can also do the reverse, but be sure that the reversal is necessary.
• Grammar—Yep. Grammar is still necessary in the business world. With all the cutting of the paragraphs, shortcuts, shooting for direct messages, some of the meanings may get lost along the way. So be sure, even if the phrases are short, they can still be understood.