Start New Presentation

·        Launch program. Select appropriate option to create a new presentation: "auto-content" (walks through a wizard, has the most "set" features), "template" (creates a presentation based on a template) or "blank" (fully customizable)

Open Existing Presentation

·        Launch Program. Select Open Existing Presentation Option and locate file you wish to open.

Select Slide Type

·        The next dialog box will prompt you to select an Auto Layout for your slide. The default for the first slide is Title Slide. Select the appropriate slide.  Click OK.

·        If you want to change the layout, go to Format, Slide Layout, change the layout and click Apply.

Insert a New Slide

·        Click Insert, New Slide, and choose a format from the Auto Layout.

Tool Bars

·        Click View, Select Toolbars. Select Standard, Formatting, Drawing and Pictures.  These tool bars offer choices that will help you in creating your presentation.

Slide Views

·        There are several views in which to view your presentation.  The main view is called Normal view.  This is the view that PowerPoint opens to automatically.  You will notice an Outline View of your slide show and a slide, along with a Notes section.  As you add slides and bullets, the program automatically generates an outline of your contents.

·        Outline view outlines the slide show.

·        Slide view allows you to edit slides.

·        Slide Sorter view shows the layout of all your slides, whether or not they have transitions, etc.  This is the view where you can make changes to the order of the slides in your presentation, delete a slide or insert a slide.

·        Slide Show view is the actual presentation.  This is used both during the actual presentation and during the creation process to view slides and changes.

·        Clicking on the view shortcut buttons at the bottom of the screen accesses the different views.

Adding Text to Slides

·        Click on text placeholders and add text. If you want to add text and there is no text placeholder, click on your Insert Menu and select Insert Text Box.  Add your text.

Changing Text Properties

·        Select the text to be changed.  Click the font type, size, alignment, etc. to be changes.

Moving or Resizing a Text Box

·        To move a text box, click in the text box, then click on the text box border.  A 4-headed arrow displays.  Click and drag the arrow to move box.

·        To resize a text box, place the cursor on one of the square “handlebars” around the box.  Click and drag the handles to resize the box.

Adding Bulleted Lists to Slides

·        Add a new slide with a bulleted list.  Click on Text placeholder and type first bulleted item.  Enter to add another item to the list. You may also add bullets by clicking on the Bulleted List icon on the Formatting Toolbar. Click ß to bring the bullet back to the left.

·        To change the bullet appearance, click in the text box with the bullet, then click Format, Bullets and Numbers.  You can change the color or change a bullet to a different character or picture.

Adding a Designed Template for a Background

·        PowerPoint has pre-designed templates that you can add for the background of your slides. Only one template can be chosen to show throughout your presentation.  Choose the Format Menu, and select the Apply Design option.  Preview the templates by clicking on each one. When you have found one you are pleased with, click on Apply. Your designed template can be changed at any time while creating your presentation by following the steps again for applying a design.

Adding ClipArt to Slides

·        Select a slide with a clipart placeholder. Double click on the clipart placeholder and select the desired clipart from the gallery. Double click on the desired graphic or click on Insert.

·        If you wish to add clipart to a slide that does not contain a clipart placeholder, click on the Insert Menu, pull mouse down to Picture, and select Gallery for Microsoft Clipart.

·        Select Insert, Picture, From File to import a graphic from another location.

Reformatting Pictures

·        From the graphic you have inserted, you can change the color, brightness, make it a watermark, or frame it by using the graphics tool bar.

·        To recolor a picture, click on the Recolor Picture button and make changes.

·        To alter the brightness, click the Increase or Decrease Brightness buttons

·        To make the graphic a watermark, click the Image Control button and choose Watermark.

·        To put a frame around a graphic, select the graphic, click the Line Style button, and choose a line width.

Master Slide

·        The master slide allows you to make a global change to the look of your slides without having to change each slide individually. Just make the change once on the master and PowerPoint automatically updates the existing slides and applies the changes to any new slides you add.

·        To access the master slide, click View, Master, Slide Master.  Just like on any other slide, you can make changes to fonts, colors and bullets, add a graphic, add a footer, move background graphics, etc.

Adding Animation to Text

·        Select the text to animate.  Click on the Slide Show menu and select Preset Animation.  Click on the animation style.

Adding Slide Transitions

·        Switch to Slide Sorter View by clicking on the View menu and selecting Slide Sorter. Select slide you wish to add transition to by clicking once or select all slides by clicking on Edit Menu and choosing Select All. Choose transition from the left pull-down menu. You will see a preview of your transition.

Adding Bullet Transitions

·        Switch to Slide Sorter View by clicking on the View menu and selecting Slide Sorter. Select the appropriate slide with bullets that you wish to add a transition to by clicking once on the slide. Choose transition from the right pull-down menu. Preview your choices by clicking on View and selecting Slide Show. Press Escape at anytime to stop your presentation.

Adding Sound to Slides

·    Click on the Insert Menu and choose Movies and Sounds. Select Sounds from Gallery and choose sound clip. Click on Insert.

·   If you are importing a sound from somewhere other than Microsoft's Gallery, then select Insert, Movies and Sounds, and From File, then locate your sound clip.

Record a Sound

·    Go to Sound Recorder (probably under Accessories, Multimedia) and click the Record button.  Speak into the microphone to record a sound.  You can save your recording as a file and import into another application such as PowerPoint.

Adding Movies to Slides

·        Click on the Insert Menu and choose Movies and Sounds. Select Movies from Gallery and choose movie clip. Click on Insert.

•     If you are importing a movie from somewhere other than Microsoft's Gallery, then select Insert, Movies and Sounds, and From File, then locate your movie clip.

Adding a Footer or Header

·        From your slide, click on View, Header and Footer.  Insert text, date or time, etc. that you want to include and then Apply or Apply To All.

View the Slide Show

·        Click Slide Show View (the icon that looks like a projector screen).  The presentation will start from the slide currently open.  To start at the beginning, click the Slide Sorter view (the icon that looks like 4 squares) and click the first slide. Then go to Slide Show View.  This starts the presentation from the beginning.  Clicking your left mouse button or hitting the Space Bar advances the slide one “action” at a time.

·        To end the Slide Show, click Escape.

·        To move backwards from within the Slide Show, click the back arrow or the backspace key.

Adding Custom Animation

·        From your slide, click on Slide Show, Custom Animation.  Here you can set the animation for each element (bullet, graphic, chart, etc.) of your slide.  You can change the order, timing, effects, chart effects or play settings.

Inserting AutoShapes

·        Click AutoShapes on the Draw toolbar.  Click on Basic Shapes and draw a shape.  You can also click on a shape and type.  To change the Fill of an AutoShape, select the shape and click the Fill Color button.  Select Fill Effects.

·        Resize shape by clicking and dragging.  Change size by dragging the “handlebars.”

Insert a Table

·        Click the Table slide for the AutoLayout and OK.  Type the title.  Double-click to insert the table.  Choose the number of columns and rows.  Type the text in each cell using the arrow keys to move between cells.

Adding Automatic Timings to a Slide Show

·        Switch to Slide Sorter View by clicking on the View menu and selecting Slide Sorter. Click on the Edit Menu and choose Select All. Click on the Slide Show Menu and choose Slide Transition. In the Advance area of the dialog box, click on the On Mouse Click button to turn off that option then click on the Automatically After button and add the number of seconds you wish to wait before the next slide appears.  Click on Apply.

Setting a Slide Show to Loop Continuously

·        Click on the Slide Show menu and choose Set Up Show. Choose the option to Continuously Loop Until Escape is Pressed. Make sure that Use Timings If Present option is also selected.

Adding Speaker Notes

·        Click on the View Menu and select Notes Pages. The display will appear to be too small to read. Look on your formatting toolbar and select the Zoom Option to change your display to a percentage that will allow you to be able to read your text as you type. Your speaker notes will not be seen by your audience. You can advance from slide to slide to add speaker notes while in this view.

Printing Slides

·        There are several options for printing slides. You may want to provide the audience with a copy of your slides just in case your technology fails!

·        Audience Handouts   You can print 2, 3, 4, 6 or 9 slides per page. Printing 3 slides per page will also provide lines for the audience to take notes. Click on the File Menu and select Print.  Go to the Print What option and select the appropriate handouts. Click on OK,

·        Notes Pages  Click on the File Menu and select Print. In the Print What option select Notes Pages. Click on OK.

·        Slides  The Printing Slides option will allow you to print one slide per page without any notes. Go to the Print What option and select Slides. Click on OK.

·        Outline View  The outline view option will allow you to print your slides in the form of an outline versus a slide. Click on the Print Option and select Print.  From the Print What option, choose Outline View. Click on OK.

Presentation Tips

·        Always disable your screen saver before a presentation.