My view of the pathetic powerpoints presentations we see day in and day out is also reflected in this article Feld Thoughts: Ban Bullets. A e-book written by Seth Godin has some interesting points on the way to avoid presentations.

Four Components to a Great Presentation:
First, make yourself cue cards. This feature should be built in to PowerPoint,but it’s not. You should be able to see your cue cards on your laptop’s screen while your audience sees your slides on the wall. Alas. In the meantime, you’ll just have to resort to writing them down the old-fashioned way.
Now, you can use the cue cards you made to make sure you’re saying what you came to say.

Second, make slides that reinforce your words, not repeat them. Create slides that demonstrate, with emotional proof, that what you’re saying is true not just accurate. Talking about pollution in Houston? Instead of giving me four bullet points of EPA data, why not show me a photo of a bunch of dead birds, some smog and even a diseased lung? Amazingly, it’s more fun than doing it the old way. But it’s effective communication.

Third, create a written document. A leave-behind. Put in as many footnotes or details as you like. Then, when you start your presentation, tell the audience that you’re going to give them all the details of your presentation after it’s over,and they don’t have to write down everything you say.
IMPORTANT: Don’t hand out the written stuff at the beginning. Don’t! If you do, people will read the whole thing while you’re talking and ignore you. Instead, your goal is to get them to sit back, trust you and take in the emotional and intellectual points of your presentation.

Fourth, create a feedback cycle. If your presentation is for a project approval,hand people a project approval form and get them to approve it, so there’s no ambiguity at all about what you’ve just agreed to.

Points to Remember:
1.No more than six words on a slide. EVER.
2. No cheesy images. Use professional images from corbis.com instead.They cost $3 each, or a little more if they’re for ‘professional use’.
3. No dissolves, spins or other transitions. None.
4. Sound effects can be used a few times per presentation, but never (ever).Use the sound effects that are built in to the program. Instead, rip sounds
and music from CDs and leverage the Proustian effect this can have.
5. Don’t hand out print-outs of your slides. They’re emotional, and they won’t work without you there.

In the words of Cliff Atkinson, one needs to fathom the aspect of Cognitive guidance and use it in presentation , thus moving away from mere information presentation.

More resources can be found here:
1.StoryTemplate-1
2.Storyboard guides
3.Story board Formatter
4.StoryTemplate-2

Happy presenting !