This is exactly what the OP didn't ask for. He wants to learn the software. He doesn't want to learn how to present.
I usually know what I need in a document, I just want to spend less time putting it together.
To edit text files quickly I learnt vim commands, I'd like to find something similar to take the sting out of working with PP. Keyboard driven workflows, advanced features etc.
Right now I am doing a lot of clicking, a lot of inserting textboxes, changing text formats and dragging things around on slides. I would like to type and hit a few shortcuts as I go to arrange things.
I appreciate people suggesting rules for numbers of slides and tips for preparing to speak but that isn't what the problem is.
I guess it didn't occur to me that a HN user wouldn't know how to use powerpoint.
When you prepare slides several times a year you can get by with the usual method, when it's weekly I would rather spend a couple of hours upfront learning the software inside out. I thought this would be apparent to HN users from the OP.