MaryBeth Rajczewski The Basics of PowerPoint Microsoft PowerPoint is the premiere presentation software. It enables you to create professional presentations in a short amount of time. Presentations using PowerPoint are generally more respected than those using standard overhead transparencies. These instructions will teach you how to create a simple PowerPoint presentation. Who Should Use These Instructions? You should use these instruction if you: need or want to learn to use PowerPoint to create a presentation have not used PowerPoint before have used PowerPoint before, but have only limited experience have lots of PowerPoint experience, but would like a refresher You should not use these instructions if you: are an expert at PowerPoint have absolutely no computer experience What Are the Prerequisites? These instructions assume you know some basics about computers; for example, you know how to navigate through a menu of options, you know how to use a mouse, and you know terms such as click and drag. If you want to add charts or graphs to your slides, you must know how to create charts and graphs in Microsoft Excel or a similar spreadsheet application. If you want to learn how to create charts and graphs, there are many Microsoft Excel reference books available.
What Equipment Is Necessary? A PC that has Microsoft PowerPoint loaded on it. A working mouse. Once you complete the steps in these instructions, you will be able to create basic PowerPoint presentations. You will also know how to use some of the key features that enable you to make more professional presentations. Since PowerPoint is such a powerful tool, there are many features that cannot be discussed in these basic instructions. Once you become familiar with the basics, you are encouraged to learn about some of the more sophisticated features. You ll be amazed at all you can do with PowerPoint. Creating a New Presentation Opening PowerPoint 1. Click on the Start icon in the bottom left corner of the screen. 2. Use your mouse to move the cursor up to Programs. 3. From Programs, move your cursor over to Microsoft PowerPoint. 4. Click on Microsoft PowerPoint when this box is highlighted.
Getting Started 1. The task pane to the left will appear. Under the heading New, click Blank Presentation. 2. If the task pane shown here does not appear when you open the program, move on to Creating Slides, the next step in these instructions. Creating Slides Choosing a Type of Slide PowerPoint lets you create many different types of slides, including: text-only slides slides with charts slides with tables slides with clip art or pictures Each time you create a slide, you first need to choose the type of slide you want to create. You will see a box that shows pictures of different kinds of slides. The pictures are organized into categories in the task pane at left. PowerPoint calls these different types of slides AutoLayouts. 1. In the Slide Layout box, choose the type of slide (AutoLayout) you want to create. 2. Click on the picture showing the type of slide you've chosen. NOTE: There are some very sophisticated types of slides available in the dialog box. They are more difficult to create and are beyond the scope of these instructions.
Adding Information to Your Slide There are different instructions for each type of slide you can create. Follow the instructions for the type of slide you chose in the previous step. Text-Only Slides 1. Add text to different areas of the slide by clicking in areas that say "Click to add " and then typing your text. NOTE: Text can be formatted using the same methods as in Microsoft Word. You can modify fonts and sizes by clicking Format on the menu at the top of the screen and then Fonts. Slides with Charts 1. Click on the area of the slide that says Click icon to add content, and select the small icon that looks like a bar graph. A sample chart will be displayed with an Excel worksheet underneath. 2. Modify the titles and numbers on the Excel worksheet. The chart will automatically change to include the new information. NOTE: These instructions assume you know how to create and modify charts using Microsoft Excel.
Slides with Tables To Create a Slide 1. Click on the area of the slide that says Click icon to add content, and select the small icon that looks like a table. The Insert Table dialog box will appear. 2. Enter the number of columns. 3. Press Tab on your keyboard. 4. Enter the number of rows. 5. Click OK. The table will appear on your slide. To Modify a Slide 1. To add information, click the cell you want or press Tab to move from one cell to the next. 2. To resize a table: a. Click and hold a box in any corner. b. Drag your mouse until you have made the table smaller or larger.
Slides with Clip Art Microsoft makes available many types of clipart images that you can import into your Power- Point presentation. You can also insert any other pictures into a slide that you have stored on your computer. 1. To view clip art options, Click on the area of the slide that says Click icon to add content. A dialog box labeled Select Picture will appear. 2. An alternate way to insert pictures is to click Insert on the toolbar at the top of the screen. Then click Picture and then Clip Art. An Insert Clip Art task pane will appear. 3. Use the search box to use keywords to search. All the pictures available in that category will appear. 4. Use the scroll bar on the right to search through the pictures. 5. If you find a picture you want to insert, click the picture. A menu will appear. Then click OK. The picture will appear on your slide.
6. If you don t find a picture that you like: a. Click the Clip Organizer. A dialog box will open with a collection list. You can browse categories of clips under Office Collections. b. Click Clips Online to connect to Microsoft s library of additional clip art, searchable and organized by category. Inserting the Next Slide 1. To create the next slide in your presentation, click Insert on the toolbar at the top of the screen. 2. Click New Slide. 3. Go back to the instructions for Creating Slides and complete the steps for Choosing a Type of Slide and Adding Information to Your Slide. 4. Repeat this process for each new slide you want to create for your presentation.
Looking at Your Presentation Viewing All Your Slides Once you have created all the slides you need, you can view all of them on the screen at the same time. This enables you to determine if any changes need to be made and helps you prepare for the order and timing of the presentation. 1. Click View on the toolbar at the top of the screen. 2. Click Slide Sorter. You will see small versions of all your slides. NOTE: In Slide Sorter View, you can delete slides, hide slides, change the order of slides, modify slides, and perform other tasks. These advanced features are beyond the scope of these instructions; assistance can be found in PowerPoint s Help feature.
Viewing Your PowerPoint Presentation You will show your completed presentation as a slide show. Your slides will appear one at a time on a full computer screen or an overhead projection screen, depending on how you give the presentation. You should practice viewing your show as a slide show at least once before you give your presentation to prepare your timing and coordinate the slides with any comments you want to make. 1. Click Slide Show on the toolbar at the top of the screen 2. Click View Show. The first slide in your presentation will appear on the screen. 3. Use the spacebar or click the mouse to move from one slide to the next. (To back up a slide, use the left arrow key.) NOTE: The rectangle that sits in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen during your presentation allows you to view your slides in a different order or to end the show immediately. Click on the rectangle during the presentation to see these options.
Using PowerPoint Features to Enhance Your Presentation PowerPoint has many different features that you can use to enhance your presentations. These instructions will discuss two of the easiest features to use creating background designs and adding animation when moving between slides but there are many others. Creating Background Designs PowerPoint has background slide designs called Design Templates that you can add to your slides. Design Templates help give your presentation the appropriate tone. There are many different choices in PowerPoint I have demonstrated three in the accompanying pictures. Each Design Template can also be customized using color schemes.
Choosing a Design Template 1. Click Format on the toolbar at the top of the screen. 2. Click Slide Design. A task pane showing design templates will appear. 3. Click on the picture of a template. The design will be applied to all the slides in your presentation. 4. To apply a different color scheme, click Color Schemes. To apply a color scheme only to specific slides, click on the box at the right of the design s picture and click on Apply to Selected Slides. Adding Animation When Moving between Slides When you move from one slide to the next, the next slide will simply appear on the screen. PowerPoint allows you to make your presentations more interesting by adding animation when moving between slides. The animations are called Slide Transitions; they allow you to choose how the slide will appear on the screen. For example, if you choose the transition Wipe Right each slide will appear as though it is starting on the left side of the screen and slowly moving right until it is centered on the screen.
Choosing a Slide Transition 1. Click Slide Show on the toolbar at the top of the screen. 2. Click Slide Transition. The Slide Transition task pane will appear. 3. Scroll through the drop-down menu to view available options. 4. Click on the names of some transition options to see them demonstrated. 5. Click on the name of the transition you want to use. 6. Click Apply to All if desired, or vary your transitions to suit particular slides or sections of your presentation. NOTE: If you do not click Apply to All, only the current slide selected will have this transition effect. Some users prefer to create different transition effects for each slide. To do this, you must click on each of your slides in Slide Sorter View, then complete the steps for Choosing a Slide Transition. Continue this process until all of your slides have different transition effects.