Back in the pre-PowerPoint days of the early eighties, when your average respectable young woman would attempt to attract a beau by dressing up in legwarmers, a ra-ra skirt and deely-boppers (you may have to Google that lot), in the world of presentations, the overhead projector was still king and it did the job pretty well. The professional look of such presentations often went out of the window, however, as wonky slides were straightened by huge finger silhouettes, and there was always the occasional slide inserted back to front to show mirror writing, which had to be flipped.

As PowerPoint developed, it paved the way for extremely professional presentations, with perfectly laid out slides that could accommodate all manner of text and graphics, and which could be enhanced by sound or animation. But the impact of a professional slide show can be dulled by some amateurish presentation gaffes. Here are a few things you should try to avoid.

When you are addressing your audience in relation to a bullet point on the screen, and you come to move on to the next one, you should have it in mind so you can shift seamlessly between the two. What you do not want is to have to turn around to look at the screen for a reminder of what the next bullet point relates to. If you have any difficulty in remembering what comes next, it should be possible to surreptitiously 'sneak a peek' at the screen as you talk.

Having to check the screen in a 'now, where were we?' moment is not only unprofessional, it also gives the impression that you are only going through the motions and have not bothered to research the presentation to the extent where you know your material.

It may seem obvious but you should double check each slide for spelling errors. In a past job as magazine editor for a local business forum, I attended many PowerPoint functions. On more than one occasion the audience was treated to a blatant error that wasn't picked up in the creation process. Again this relegates the presentation to amateur status.

Be particularly wary of typos that may not be picked up by the spellchecker because they make existing words. For example, if you had a bullet point that was supposed to state 'Time is the Enemy', but you accidentally hit the A key instead of that final Y, then the spell checker would allow it. When the slide came up in the presentation, however, you would have some difficulty emphasising the point above the laughter.

You should always remember that your presentation needs to be effective if it is to be a success, and not simply done for the sake of it. PowerPoint is a tool and it should be used as such, to enhance and emphasise the message the presenter wants to get across. It should not be relied upon to do all of the work. If you think back to the days of the overhead projector, changing slides was a time consuming task that interrupted the flow of the presentation and so their use was kept to a minimum. With PowerPoint you can flip to the next slide with a single click. It does not follow, however, that more slides make a better presentation.

Sounds and animations can enhance the effectiveness of a slide show, but do not be tempted to use them where they are not needed. Movement on the screen will take the eyes of the audience away from you, and so be careful not to start talking while the company logo is still flying in from the left. Remember, the slides are there only to emphasise what you will be saying. Still slides with no animation will reinforce what you say while the audience stays focused on you. The old adage that 'less is more' certainly rings true when creating a PowerPoint presentation.