Introduction to Microsoft PowerPoint

What is MS PowerPoint:
It is powerful presentation software which allows the user to create transitional slides, each of which has its
own content. The slides can then be presented in a cohesive show together. Each slide can be edited and
formatted separately, or cohesively as a group. This software is generally used to provide visual cues and
images that coincide with an oral presentation given by a speaker/presenter. However, it can also be used
for traditional slideshow applications.

How to start MS PowerPoint

1. Find the PowerPoint icon your desktop
2. Double click on the icon
Note: For those who do not have this icon on their desktop
1. Click the START button in the lower right hand corner of your screen
2. Select PROGRAMS
3. Select MICROSOFT OFFICE
4. Select MICROSOFT POWERPOINT

Changing the Slide View

1. Locate the Slide View icon bar on the bottom left hand side of
the PowerPoint screen
2. Click on one of the three icons to change the Slide View
(between default split-screen, slide only view, and
play/presentation view)

Adding Text to a Slide

1. Click inside the provided text box (Notice it reads :
Click to Title, Subtitle, Text, etc)
2. Once the cursor is blinking you can begin to type
your text
Note: You have the same text editing features available to you that are used in Microsoft Word. They work
the same way here

Moving and Resizing Images and Text Boxes

1. Click once on the image or text box to highlight the box (you will know this is done when the box
has slanted lines for a border and small hollow dots around it)
2. To move a text box or image, place your cursor anywhere on the slanted border of the box until
your cursor becomes a cross, click the left mouse button and while holding down the button, drag
the object to the new location and release the left button
3. To resize a text box or image, places you cursor on top of one of the hollow dots until you cursor
becomes an arrow (the direction of the arrow will indicate in what direction you can move the box
from that dot), click the left mouse button and while holding down the button you can drag to
expand or contract the box

These are the hollow dots that

allow you to resize a text box or
image by holding the left mouse
button and dragging in a
particular direction
Inserting a New Slide
1. Click INSERT
2. Select NEW SLIDE
Note: You can also use the keyboard shortcut CTRL+M; Or, you can click on an existing slide in the slides
menu on the left and hit the ENTER key

Deleting Slides
1. Click on the slide you wish to delete in the Slide menu
2. Press the DELETE key on your keyboard

Applying Slide Layouts

Slide layouts are different from your slide designs or templates. Designs or
templates add colors, objects and shapes to a presentation. Slide layouts allow you
to pre-select how you would like text and images to be laid out on the page itself.
While you can do this free hand and simply move and resize things to your liking,
sometimes it is easier to select a layout and avoid some of the unneeded manual
configuring

To apply a Slide Layout

1. Choose the slide(s) you would like to apply the layout to from the Slide
menu (you may want to apply a layout to more than one slide)
2. Make sure that the menu selected in right hand panel is on Slide Layout
(this is usually the default when working with new slides)
3. If the Slide Layout menu is not the menu selected, click on the drop down
arrow at the top of the menu (next to the ‘x’) ; A list of options will
appear where you can scroll and choose ‘Slide Layout’
4. Once you have this menu available, hover you mouse over the slide
layout you would like to apply
5. Click on the drop down arrow to the right of the design , and select
APPLY TO SELECTED SLIDES
Note: You can also create a new slide with a specific layout (instead of having a
blank slide and applying a layout to it). To do this skip step 1 above and follow
steps 2-4. then, for step 5, instead of choosing APPLY TO SELECTED SLIDES,
choose INSERT NEW SLIDE

Inserting Images Saved on Your Computer

1. Click INSERT
2. Scroll to PICTURES
3. Select FROM FILE
4. Navigate to the folder or storage area/medium where your picture
is located
5. Click on the picture file name or thumbnail
6. Click INSERT
Inserting Clip Art
Clip art are images that you did not create yourself, but that has been made available for use. They work
functionally the same as photos images. Word has a pre-installed gallery of these clips for your use
(without worry of copyright infringement). There is also a free gallery maintained on Microsoft’s website
1. Click INSERT
2. Scroll to PICTURES
3. Click CLIP ART

You have several options for choosing clip art:

• You can use keywords to search for appropriate clip art by
typing them into the search box provided (this will search both
on your computer and on the web) To insert clip art with this
option:
• From the list of images retrieved, click on the one you would
like to insert
• You can also click the link CLIP ART ON OFFICE ONLINE
located at the bottom of the clip art menu box to browse and
select clip art from Microsoft’s website.
• From their website, navigate to a selection of clip art images
using their provided categories
• Click on image to see a larger view
• If you would like to get the image, select the box for ADD TO
SELECTION BASKET
• Continue to search for images and select them for download
(you can download several images in one shot)
• Once you are finished selecting images, click the link
DOWNLOAD located above the thumbnail images

Inserting Picture from the Internet

1. Find a picture on the web (using your web browser)
2. Right click on the picture
3. From the mini-menu select COPY IMAGE
4. Go back and select the PowerPoint slide for which you are going to use the image and use the
PASTE shortcut (CTRL + V) or Click EDIT and select PASTE

Inserting a Diagram or Organization Chart

PowerPoint has a nice feature that allows you to insert blank
diagrams into a slide and which you can then edit.

To insert a diagram/organizational chart

1. Click INSERT
2. Select DIAGRAM
3. From the popup box, select the diagram or chart you would
like to insert
4. To add text labels to the areas of the diagram, click the
areas that read ‘CLICK TO ADD TEXT’ once
5. Begin typing your text, then click the next editable area
until your diagram is filled out
Note: The actual diagram is similar to a picture which means it can
be moved and resized (smaller and larger) in the same way.

Changing the Order of Slides

1. Click on the slide you would like to move in the left hand
side Slide menu
 2. Holding down the left mouse button, drag the slide up or down to the place you would like the
slide to be located
3. Release the mouse button

Inserting Data and Objects from Other Programs

You can copy and paste text, images, charts and data from various other Microsoft Office programs such as
Word and Excel.
1. Click on the object, or highlight the text, you would like to copy onto your slide
2. Click EDIT, then select COPY (or use the keyboard shortcut CTRL+C)
3. On the bottom of your screen, click the small rectangle that represents PowerPoint to bring you
back to that program
4. Select the slide you would like the copied information to appear in from the Slide menu
5. Click EDIT, then select PASTE (or use the keyboard shortcut CTRL+V)

Playing a Slideshow
1. Click SLIDESHOW
2. Select VIEW
Note: You can also play your slideshow by hitting the F5 key

Navigating a Slideshow
1. To move forward one slide, click the left mouse button or hit the ‘n’ key on your keyboard
2. To move back one slide, hit the ‘p’ key on your keyboard
3. To end the slideshow at any time, hit the ESCAPE key on your keyboard

Saving a PowerPoint presentation

1. Click FILE
2. Select SAVE AS

Use drop down arrow to

navigate to area where you
would like to save

Create a file
name for your
slideshow
3. Using the drop down arrow located on the
top of the popup box, locate the area on
your computer where you would like to save
your presentation
4. Type in the name you would like to give the file
5. Click SAVE

Inserting a Background
This is useful if you would like to create a background for your
slides, without actually applying an entire design template (which
includes a background)
1. Click FORMAT
2. Select BACKGROUND
3. From the popup box, click the drop down arrow and
select FILL EFFECTS
4. Use the four tab to select the type of background you
would like
 Note: You can choose the PICTURE tab to insert a picture as your slide(s) background as well
5. Once you have made your selection, click OK
6. Now, you can choose to click APPLY (which will apply the background to the selected slide) or
APPLY TO ALL (to apply the background to all the slides)

Printing a Slideshow
1. Click FILE
2. Select PRINT
3. Select the format in you would like to print your slides
4. Select OK
Note: You can also perform a print preview to see what the show will look like printed in several formats
(handout, slides, etc). To do this:
1. Click FILE
2. Select PRINT PREVIEW
3. Use the drop down menu at the top to select a different preview style
4. (Optional) From here, you can also select the style you would like to print and click the print icon
on the top right from this screen to print out the slideshow

Printing Using the Handout Master

Printing using the Handout Master option allows you to have much more control over the look and layout
of your handouts (if this is the type of printing you would like to do)
1. Click VIEW
2. Select MASTER
3. Select HANDOUT MASTER
4. Make any edits you would like to the handout template
including adding such information as dates or titles
5. Once finished, click CLOSE HANDOUT MASTER
6. Now, when you go to print (or print preview) and select
handouts, you will see the changes you made added

Using Notes
For every slide that you have in your presentation, there is a space provided at the bottom for speakers
notes. Speakers notes are a way for you to add text to a presentation that will not appear when the
slideshow is playing. This features is useful when using PowerPoint slide shows for presentations and you
would like to have notes, reminders and text that you can use during the presentation, but do not wish your
audience to see

To add speakers notes

1. Click in the speakers notes box, which is located below your slide in the main slide view
2. Begin typing your notes

Applying Templates
Templates are slightly different than the Auto-Content Wizard in that they do not create an entire ‘mock
presentation’. Instead they are used to make color, background and style choices either for new or existing
slides. They are a great way to add pizzazz and flare to plain slides by proving colors, objects and styles
that can make a show standout
 1. Click FORMAT
2. Select SLIDE DESIGN
3. A new menu will appear on the left where you can choose
slide designs to apply to your slides (this is the default)
4. Hover your mouse over the design you would like to
apply and click on the gray arrow bar that appears on the
left side of the design
5. From here, you can select whether you would like to
apply the design to all the slides in your presentation, or
the present slide that is selected

Using Slide Transitions

Slide transitions are a way for you to provide animation as one slide
transitions to another. While not a necessary component for creating a
slideshow, it is a nice feature to add and does exude a level of
competence and professionalism to the show itself.

To apply slide transition(s)

1. Click SLIDESHOW
2. Select SLIDE TRANSITIONS
3. From the menu that appears on the right side of your
PowerPoint work area, choose the transition type and speed
4. Also, under ADVANCE SLIDE, you can choose whether you
would like to move to the next slide with a mouse click (or
keyboard tap) or place your slides on a timer where they
would appear for a certain number of seconds and then
automatically transition (you also have the option of selecting
different times for different slides by doing these steps
separately for each individual slide)
5. To apply the transition only to the selected slide, click the ‘X’ This is
located at the top of the Slide Transition Menu the area
6. To apply the transition to ALL the slides, click APPLY TO where
ALL SLIDES you can
Note 1: You may also instead choose to work with Animation Schemes automate
which are similar to slide transitions, but which do more with or place
animating the text on your screen. You can use the same steps as above your
except that for step 2, you would select ANIMATION SCHEMES slide(s)
Note 2: Be wary of trying to do too much, when you selected a slide or on a
transition scheme for all slides, it replaces whatever scheme you had timer
previously. As well you probably do not want to have a different
scheme or transition for each slide…to much variety in this case will
“transition” into a less professional looking slideshow

Applying Color Schemes

Color schemes are similar to templates, however they fall slightly
short. While templates provides predefined appearances for colors,
objects and text, color schemes are simply a way to choose the different colors you would like to apply to
your slide show. Consider it a ‘lite’ version of a template. Note: It is not wise to use them together!! It will
cause you more headaches than it is worth The nice feature is that not only can you choose one of the
PowerPoint’s predefined colors schemes, but you can create your own schemes as well to get just the right
colors for your presentation.

To apply a color scheme

1. Click FORMAT
 Link to use
2. Select SLIDE DESIGN to select
3. In the right hand menu, select the link ‘COLOR SCHEMES’ located and apply
at the top (there are three links you can choose from) color
4. Hover over the color scheme you would like to apply schemes
5. Click on the drop down arrow that appears to right of the color
scheme
6. Click APPLY TO ALL SLIDES (when using color schemes or slide
designs it is usually a good idea to be consistent and apply the same
look to all your slides)
Note: However, you can choose to apply color schemes only to selected
slides. To do this, hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard and select each
slide you would like to apply the scheme to. Follow steps 1-5 above. For step
6, select APPLY TO SELECTED SLIDES

To create a color scheme

1. Click FORMAT
2. Select SLIDE DESIGN
3. In the right hand menu, select the link ‘COLOR SCHEMES’ located
at the top (there are three links you can choose from)
4. At the bottom of the menu, click the link ‘EDIT COLOR SCHEMES’ Hover over template and
5. A popup box will appear with two tabs: Standard and Custom; Choose CUSTOM slick this arrow to apply
6. On the left side will appear attributes for which you can select your colors the template
7. Select an attribute (ex. Background)
8. Select the CHANGE COLOR button below the attribute list
9. Choose a color (or create one using
the CUSTOM feature here) and select
OK
10. Once you are finished changing the
colors for the attributes you would
like to edit, click Preview to see what
you new scheme will look like
11. To apply the new color scheme, click
APPLY (the default is to apply the
color scheme to all the slides)
Note: If you are working with creating your
own and get frustrated or don’t like it and
wish to just start over, you always have the
option of clicking CANCEL. Doing this type of
work takes a little getting used to!

Accessing the AutoContent Wizard

The Auto Content Wizard is a useful feature provided by PowerPoint to allow you to pre-select the type
and style of presentation you would like and then creates a working template you can edit and use. It
populates the template with ‘dummy’ information that you can remove and replace with your own content.
1. Click FILE
2. Select NEW
3. From the selection menu on the left hand side of the page, click the link for ‘From Auto-Content
Wizard’
4.
Adding Audio and Video (From Files on Your Computer
1. Select the slide you want to insert the movie or sound file into
2. Click INSERT
3. Select either MOVIES FROM FILE, or SOUNDS FROM FILE
4. With the popup window navigate to location of the sound or movie file and click OPEN
5. Select whether you want to file to play automatically or when clicked on
Sharing Slideshows on Internet
The Internet is a very useful and easy way to share slideshows you have created with others. There are
more several free options for publishing your slideshow to the web which allows you to share a link to the
slideshow with others, as well as more advanced options such as embedding slideshows on you your own
webpage. The two most used options for publishing slideshows to the web are:

1. Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.com
2. Google Docs: http://docs.google.com
3. Omnisio: http://www.omnisio.com
Note: This last one is VERY new but does something that no other one’s currently do, which is to allow for
video to play side by side with a slideshow.

All do require the creation of a FREE account which does require that at minimum you have an email
address.

Creating Slideshows on the Internet

There are also free web presentation tools you can use to actually BOTH create and publish your
slideshows on the web. One nice feature here is that you do not have to upload your slideshow once you
create it, it’s already on the web; you just need to choose to have it be public or private. Another nice
feature is that it allows you to put audio and video files that are on the web directly into your presentation.
Here are a few you can try out. Most work similar to PowerPoint and some you may even find easier to use

1. Google Docs: http://docs.google.com

2. Empressr: http://www.empressr.com
3. Spreset: http://www.spresent.com/v2/ (I REALLY recommends this one; has some really nice
animations and effects you can add)
4. Zoho: http://www.zoho.com/ (Click ZOHO show for their presentation tool)
5. 280 Slides: http://280slides.com/ (A newer application which can export as Powerpoint for
download – like Google Docs – but you may find more user friendly

Resources with tips for using PowerPoint

1. 12 Tips for Creating Better PowerPoint Presentations
http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/getworkdone/presentations.mspx
2. How to Create a Powerful Sales Presentation
http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/salesselling/a/presentationkr.htm
3. Creating with PowerPoint: 10 Do’s and Don’ts
http://tinyurl.com/5se42r