In most organizations today, PowerPoint is the de facto program for business presentations. It's also increasingly used for business reporting because business readers have little time for lengthy reports or memos. PowerPoint requires an author to be both succinct and to the point.

PowerPoint dominates business communication for other reasons, as well: it's relatively easy to use; you can store and transmit your data or speech electronically; and you can easily project it to groups of almost any size, yet print it in hard copy on any printer, so it serves as a basic record of a talk or presentation.

But the program's strengths are also its weaknesses. Many commentators and experts complain about the use of cryptic bullet point lists, text-heavy paragraphs, meaningless clip art and data graphics that are all but impossible to decipher. Although PowerPoint may be easy to use, using it well is a challenge.

To get the full benefit of the program, a communicator must apply principles of good visual communication. A PowerPoint presentation reaches its full potential only when it captures and focuses the audience's attention, communicates information at a glance, and uses visual techniques to help the audience follow and understand the message.

To design an effective PowerPoint show, you must do three things: