PowerPoint Basics - Lakewood Public Library

A. Basic Skills

1. Formatting of text and placement of images (e.g. clipart) similar to Microsoft Word and Microsoft Publisher.
2. AutoContent Wizard offers suggested presentations for selected topics.
3. Online Templates can be downloaded from Microsoft's web site.
4. Planning the presentation is crucial to cutting down on composition time. Outline your plan then build the PowerPoint presentation.

B. Slides

1. The backbone of a PowerPoint presentation.
2. Like the old slides from your grandparent's vacation.
3. Slides are layers composed of the slide master, the background, and objects.
4. To insert a new slide into your presentation, click on the Insert menu then New Slide.
5. You can move slides to new position by clicking-and-dragging the slide to the desired position in the outline pane.

C. Slide Masters

1. Include any text and/or graphics you want to appear on every slide.
2. Provides a uniform look for the entire presentation.
3. Acts like a template to control most text properties (such as font, font size, color, bullet style and shadowing effects) attached to the text placeholders.

E. Views

1. Screen sections in PowerPoint's default view:

Outline
Slide
Notes

2. From within PowerPoint you can use four screen views:

Normal - default view that shows the major sections
Slide - slides are almost in full view; a good view for formatting
Outline - recommended view for editing text or creating text in slides
Slide Sorter - thumbnails of every slide; handy for sorting and ordering slides

Access the screen view choice area in the lower left of a PowerPoint window.

F. Background

1. Can be globally set in the master slide or when editing an individual slide.
2. Colors or images can be used for backgrounds.
3. When setting the background for a single slide, you have the option to apply the change to all slides. If you apply to all, then the new setting will change the slide master setting too.

G. Objects

1. Objects are the top layer of a slide. Objects include AutoShapes, text boxes, graphics, and WordArt.
2. When using PowerPoint, by default you function in the object layer.

H. Extras

1. Transitions: are effects that control how each new side appears.
2. Custom Animations: are visual effects for objects, such as images or text.

I. Notes

1. Useful area for jotting down information when building the presentation.
2. Once the presentation is near its final version, use this area for reminder notes when making a presentation.
3. Not seen in the presentation.

A. Choosing a Method

1. Manual
2. AutoContent Wizard
3. Online Templates

a. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/default.aspx - Grab slides, charts, backgrounds

B. Sample Blank Presentation

1. File > New > Blank Presentation
2. Choose a Slide
3. Edit the Slide Master: access the Slide Master via menu: View > Master > Slide Master
4. Insert slides as needed.
5. Use the Insert menu to add objects to a slide.
6. Extras? Custom Animations, Transitions...

a. To apply a transition to a slide, click on the SlideShow menu then Slide Transition.

1) Transitions cannot be set on the slide master. However, you can choose to apply a transition to all slides. Later you can remove transitions for selected slides. For instance, no transition may not be appropriate for the first slide, or perhaps you want a different transition for selected slides. After applying the generic transition and applying it to all slides, go to the slide that you want to alter and make your change.

b. To create a custom animation to an object, highlight the object then click on the SlideShow menu then Custom Animation.
c. Slide Numbers and/or the date & time can be set via menu. Click View > Header and Footer. Apply to one or all slides.

7. Saving the Presentation

a. The default file setting for saving is Presentation. This file will launch PowerPoint; it is not a directly viewable show.
b. To export for viewing, you can save as PowerPoint Show, web page, or images.
c. I keep a version for editing and save as Presentation and then save as a PowerPoint Show. This practice ensures there are editable and a viewable versions available.