Hi there!
After teaching 'effective presentations' in higher education for over 10 years, I had better be the right person for this job! I also practice what I preach - I have given over 50 presentations at conferences around the world.
PPTs are created for many different purposes, so I will first ask you to specify in detail what you are using them for and the intended effect: who is the audience? How big is the screen it will be displayed on? Do you want to go for maximum impact? Or do you want the slides to be more informational?
Once we've worked through that, we can look at what sort of style you want for the background, what sort of graphics you want, what level of animation you want, and so on.
Animations are one of my favorite devices to use, but it is so important to ensure they are being used for the right reasons, and it is a mistake to overdo them. As an educator, I always make sure that my animations work for me - there is always a reason for using one.
If you can give me more details about the purpose, and send me a few of the slides to be revamped, I will happily do them as a sample for free.
For time, I am free in February to devote myself to this project, and would be able to make rapid progress.
I see you are in NZ? I"m from North Canterbury - though resident in Sydney.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Best
David