Lesson 5: Slide Basics

Introduction

Every PowerPoint presentation is composed of a series

of slides. To begin creating a slide show, you'll need to know
the basics of working with slides. You'll need to feel
comfortable with tasks such as inserting a new
slide, changing the layout of a slide, arranging existing
slides, changing the slide view, and adding notes to a slide.

Optional: Download our practice presentation.

Understanding slides and slide layouts

When you insert a new slide, it will usually

have placeholders to show you where content will be placed.
Slides have different layouts for placeholders, depending on
the type of information you want to include. Whenever you
create a new slide, you'll need to choose a slide layout that fits
your content.
Placeholders can contain different types of content, including
text, images, and videos. Many placeholders have thumbnail
icons you can click to add specific types of content. In the
example below, the slide has placeholders for
the title and content.
To insert a new slide:

Whenever you start a new presentation, it will contain one

slide with the Title Slide layout. You can insert as many slides
as you need from a variety of layouts.

1. From the Home tab, click the bottom half of

the New Slide command.

2. Choose the desired slide layout from the menu that

appears.
3. The new slide will appear. Click any placeholder and
begin typing to add text. You can also click an icon to
add other types of content, such as a picture or
a chart.
To change the layout of an existing slide, click
the Layout command, then choose the desired layout.

To quickly add a slide that uses the same layout as the

selected slide, click the top half of the New Slide command.
Organizing slides

PowerPoint presentations can contain as many slides as you

need. The Slide Navigation pane on the left side of the screen
makes it easy to organize your slides. From there, you
can duplicate, rearrange, and delete slides in your
presentation.

Working with slides

• Duplicate slides: If you want to copy and paste a
slide quickly, you can duplicate it. To duplicate
 slides, select the slide you want to duplicate, right-
click the mouse, and choose Duplicate Slide from the
menu that appears. You can also duplicate multiple
slides at once by selecting them first.

• Move slides: It's easy to change the order of your

slides. Just click and drag the desired slide in the
Slide Navigation pane to the desired position.
 • Delete slides: If you want to remove a slide from your
presentation, you can delete it. Simply select the slide
you want to delete, then press
the Delete or Backspace key on your keyboard.

To copy and paste slides:

If you want to create several slides with the same layout, you
may find it easier to copy and paste a slide you've already
created instead of starting with an empty slide.

1. Select the slide you want to copy in the Slide

Navigation pane, then click the Copy command on
the Home tab. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl+C on
your keyboard.
2. In the Slide Navigation pane, click just below a slide
(or between two slides) to choose a paste location.
A horizontal insertion point will appear.
3. Click the Paste command on the Home tab.
Alternatively, you can press Ctrl+V on your
keyboard.
4. The slide will appear in the selected location.
Customizing slide layouts

Sometimes you may find that a slide layout doesn't exactly fit
your needs. For example, a layout might have too many—or
too few—placeholders. You might also want to change how
the placeholders are arranged on the slide. Fortunately,
PowerPoint makes it easy to adjust slide layouts as needed.

Adjusting placeholders
• To select a placeholder: Hover the mouse over the
edge of the placeholder and click (you may need to
 click the text in the placeholder first to see the
border). A selected placeholder will have
a solid line instead of a dotted line.

• To move a placeholder: Select the placeholder, then

click and drag it to the desired location.

• To resize a placeholder: Select the placeholder you

want to resize. Sizing handles will appear. Click and
drag the sizing handles until the placeholder is the
desired size. You can use the corner sizing handles to
change the placeholder's height and width at the
same time.
 • To delete a placeholder: Select the placeholder you
want to delete, then press
the Delete or Backspace key on your keyboard.

To add a text box:

Text can be inserted into both placeholders and text boxes.

Inserting text boxes allows you to add to the slide layout.
Unlike placeholders, text boxes always stay in the same place,
even if you change the theme.

1. From the Insert tab, select the Text Box command.

2. Click and drag to draw the text box on the slide.

 3. The text box will appear. To add text, simply click the
text box and begin typing.

Using blank slides

If you want even more control over your content, you may
prefer to use a blank slide, which contains no placeholders.
Blank slides can be customized by adding your own text
boxes, pictures, charts, and more.
 • To insert a blank slide, click the bottom half of
the New Slide command, then choose Blank from the
menu that appears.

While blank slides offer more flexibility, keep in mind that you
won't be able to take advantage of the predesigned layouts
included in each theme.

To play the presentation:

Once you've arranged your slides, you may want to play your
presentation. This is how you will present your slide show to
an audience.
 1. Click the Start From Beginning command on the
Quick Access Toolbar to see your presentation.

2. The presentation will appear in full-screen mode.

3. You can advance to the next slide by clicking your
mouse or pressing the spacebar on your keyboard.
Alternatively, you can use the arrow keys on your
keyboard to move forward or backward through the
presentation.
4. Press the Esc key to exit presentation mode.

You can also press the F5 key at the top of your keyboard to
start a presentation.

Customizing slides

To change the slide size:

By default, all slides in PowerPoint 2013 use a 16-by-9—

or widescreen—aspect ratio. You might know that widescreen
TVs also use the 16-by-9 aspect ratio. Widescreen slides will
work best with widescreen monitors and projectors. However,
if you need your presentation to fit a 4-by-3 screen, it's easy to
change the slide size to fit.
 • To change the slide size, select the Design tab, then
click the Slide Size command. Choose the desired
slide size from the menu that appears, or
click Custom Slide Size for more options.

To format the slide background:

By default, all slides in your presentation use a white

background. It's easy to change the background style for
some or all of your slides. Backgrounds can have
a solid, gradient, pattern, or picture fill.

1. Select the Design tab, then click

the Format Background command.

2. The Format Background pane will appear on the

right. Select the desired fill options. In our example,
we'll use a Solid fill with a light gold color.
3. The background style of the selected slide will update.
4. If you want, you can click Apply to All to apply the
same background style to all slides in your
presentation.
To apply a theme:
A theme is a predefined combination of colors, fonts, and
effects that can quickly change the look and feel of your entire
slide show. Different themes also use different slide layouts,
which can change the arrangement of your existing
placeholders. We'll talk more about themes later in
our Applying Themes lesson.
1. Select the Design tab on the Ribbon, then click
the More drop-down arrow to see all of the available
themes.

2. Select the desired theme.

 3. The theme will be applied to your entire
presentation.

Try applying a few different themes to your presentation.

Some themes will work better than others, depending on your
content.
Challenge!
1. Open our practice presentation.
2. Change the theme of the presentation.
3. Delete slide 7. This slide should be blank.
4. Add a new slide with the Title and Content layout to
the end of the presentation.
5. In the Title placeholder, type Adoption Event Dates.
6. Select the Content placeholder and delete it.
7. Insert a text box and type July 17, 2017, inside it.
8. Change the slide size to Standard (4:3). A dialog box
will appear asking if you want to maximize or ensure
fit. Choose Ensure Fit.
9. When you're finished, your presentation should look
something like this: