V-1.

PART V

Presentations and
PowerPoint
V-1.2 Computer Fundamentals
 V-1.3

LESSON 1

Creating a
Presentation
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:

Start Microsoft PowerPoint.

Explore the PowerPoint window.

Choose a method to start a presentation.

Create a presentation using a wizard.

Save a presentation.

With Microsoft PowerPoint, you can create overhead slides, speaker notes,
audience handouts, and outlines—all in a single presentation file. PowerPoint
offers powerful tools to help you create and organize a presentation step by
step.
As an example, suppose that you are the vice president of sales for the public
relations firm Contoso, Ltd. and are responsible for developing a new
employee training program. The president of Contoso has asked you to create a
brief presentation to describe the project at the annual stockholders’ meeting.
In this lesson, you will learn how to start PowerPoint, explore the PowerPoint
window, choose a method to start a presentation, create a presentation using the
AutoContent Wizard, and save your work.
You will not need any practice files for this lesson. Instead, you will create all
of the files and folders that you need during the course of the lesson.

Starting Microsoft PowerPoint

After you install PowerPoint and the practice files, you are ready to start
PowerPoint. As with other programs, there are several ways to start
PowerPoint. One way is to use the Start button on the taskbar.
In this exercise, you start PowerPoint.
1 On the taskbar, click Start.
The Start menu appears.
2 On the Start menu, point to All Programs.
The Programs menu appears, displaying all the programs on your
hard disk drive, including Microsoft PowerPoint. A portion of the
Programs menu should look like the illustration on the following
page.
 V-1.4 Computer Fundamentals

If you have installed

PowerPoint 2002 as a
separate program, your menu
might look different.

3 Click the Microsoft PowerPoint icon to start PowerPoint.

tip
You can also start PowerPoint by creating a shortcut icon on the Windows
desktop. Simply double-click a shortcut icon to start its associated program.
To create a shortcut, click the Start button, point to All Programs, right-click
Microsoft PowerPoint, point to Send To, and then click Desktop (create
shortcut).
A desktop shortcut is represented by an icon with a curved arrow in the left
corner.

Exploring the PowerPoint Window

When Microsoft PowerPoint opens, it displays the program window. A
window is an area of the screen that is used to display a PowerPoint program
or presentation window. The presentation window is the electronic canvas on
which you type text, draw shapes, create graphs, add color, and insert objects.
As with any Microsoft Windows XP program, you can adjust the size of the
PowerPoint and presentation windows with the Minimize and Restore
Down/Maximize buttons, and you can close PowerPoint or the presentation
window with the Close button.
 Part V: Lesson 1 Creating a Presentation V-1.5

Along the top of the PowerPoint window are the menus and buttons you use to
perform the most common presentation tasks. Another row of buttons might
appear along the left side and on the bottom of the screen. The menus are lists
of commands or options available in PowerPoint. The buttons you see are
organized on toolbars. Toolbar buttons are shortcuts to commonly used menu
commands and formatting tools. You simply click a button on the appropriate
toolbar for one-step access to tasks such as formatting text and saving a
presentation.

Toolbar Options
The Standard and Formatting toolbars are located directly below the menu bar.
When the Standard and When PowerPoint is first started, the Standard and Formatting toolbars appear
Formatting toolbars share
one row, you can’t see all the on the same row to save window space. Only the most commonly used
buttons, but you can access commands appear on the toolbars. The toolbars on your computer might
other buttons by clicking the display buttons different from the ones shown in the figures in this lesson. To
Toolbar Options down arrow
at the end of the toolbar.
see the rest of the commands on either toolbar, click the Toolbar Options down
arrow, shown in the margin. Once you use a button on the Toolbar Options list,
it replaces a less frequently used button on the visible part of the toolbar. In this
book, if you are instructed to click a button and you don’t see it, click the
Toolbar Options down arrow to display all of the buttons on a toolbar.

You can turn off the PowerPoint uses personalized menus and toolbars. When you click a menu
personalized menus feature name, a short menu appears, containing the most frequently used commands.
so that all commands appear To make the complete long menu appear, you can leave the pointer over the
all the time on the menus. On
the Tools menu, click
menu name for several seconds, you can double-click the menu name, or you
Customize, click the Options can click the menu name and then click the small double arrow at the bottom of
tab, clear the Menus Show the short menu. When the long menu is displayed, the commands that did not
Recently Used Commands
appear on the short menu are in light gray.
First check box, and then
click Close.
Outline/Slides Pane
The default view, Normal, is made up of three panes: Outline/Slides, Slide, and
Notes. The Outline/Slides pane has tabs that allow you to alternate between an
outline of the slide text (the Outline tab) and a list of the presentation’s slides
displayed as thumbnails (Slides tab). The Slide pane shows the slide as it will
appear in the presentation. The Notes pane is where you enter speaker notes.
You can resize any of the panes by dragging the gray bar that separates them.

Task Pane
At the right side of the PowerPoint window is the task pane, as shown in the
illustration on the following page. The task pane displays commands and
features you use often in working with presentations. Task panes let you work
with commands without having to display menus or use toolbar buttons. Some
task panes display automatically. For example, the New Presentation task pane
opens along with PowerPoint each time the program starts. Other task panes
display in response to a specific request. For example, when you tell
PowerPoint you want to insert a clip art picture, the Insert Clip Art task pane
opens to help you find a picture.
 V-1.6 Computer Fundamentals

You can quickly switch from one task pane to another by clicking the Other
To open the task pane Task Panes down arrow on any task pane to display the other task panes. When
manually, click Task Pane on
the View menu. This
you’re finished with a task pane, click its Close button to hide it.
command opens the task
pane if it is hidden or closes it
if it is open.

At the bottom of the Outline/Slides pane are view buttons that allow you to
display the presentation’s slides in different ways. When you first open
PowerPoint, the presentation is displayed in Normal view.
Messages appear at the bottom of the window in an area called the status bar.
These messages describe what you are seeing and doing in the PowerPoint
window as you work.

You can turn toolbar To find out about different items on the screen, you can display a ScreenTip.
ScreenTips on and off. On Click the What’s This? command on the Help menu, and then click the item
the Tools menu, click about which you want information. A box appears, telling you more about the
Customize, click the Options
tab, clear the Show
item. To display a ScreenTip for a toolbar button, you simply place the pointer
ScreenTips on toolbars check over the button without clicking it, and a ScreenTip appears, telling you the
box, and then click Close. name of the button, as shown in the margin.

ScreenTip
In this exercise, you personalize the Window menu and display a ScreenTip for
a button.
1 On the menu bar, click Window.
The Window menu appears.

You can also view the

2 Click the arrows at the bottom of the Window menu to view the
expanded menu by clicking expanded menu.
the menu and waiting a few The expanded menu appears.
seconds for the expanded
menu to appear. 3 Click Next Pane.
4 On the menu bar, click Window again.
Part V: Lesson 1 Creating a Presentation V-1.7

Notice that the Next Pane is now displayed on the Window menu.
PowerPoint has personalized the Window menu for you.

Slides Tab
In this exercise, you look at the Slides tab and use the Other Task Panes menu.
1 Position the pointer on the slide icon in the Slides tab of the
Outline/Slides pane.
A ScreenTip appears when you position the pointer over the icon.
2 Click the Other Task Panes down arrow.
The Other Task Panes menu opens.
3 Click an empty place anywhere in the PowerPoint window.
The Other Task Panes menu closes, leaving the New Presentation
task pane open.

Choosing a Method to Start a

Presentation
The New Presentation task pane can help you work with existing presentations
as well as create new ones. If you have already created a presentation, you will
find its name listed in the Open a presentation section of the task pane. If you
want to create a new presentation, you can simply start adding text to the blank
presentation in the Slide pane or use the options in the New section of the task
pane.
■ Click Blank Presentation to start a new presentation from scratch.
■ Click From Design Template to apply one of PowerPoint’s design
templates to a new, blank presentation.
■ Click From AutoContent Wizard to let PowerPoint help you with
both presentation content and a design.

Creating a Presentation Using a

Wizard
Creating a presentation with the AutoContent Wizard can save you time by
helping you organize and write the presentation. The wizard takes you through
a step-by-step process, prompting you for presentation information, beginning
with the title slide, which is the first slide in the presentation.
In this exercise, you create a presentation using the AutoContent Wizard.
1 In the New Presentation task pane, click From AutoContent Wizard
under New.
The New Presentation task pane closes and the AutoContent
Wizard dialog box opens, displaying the Start screen. On the left
side of the dialog box is a list of the screens in the wizard.
 V-1.8 Computer Fundamentals

tip
If the Office Assistant appears, click No, don’t provide help now in the help
screen.

2 Read the introduction, and then click Next.

The second screen in the AutoContent Wizard appears, and the
square next to Presentation type on the left of the dialog box turns
green to indicate that this is the current screen. The AutoContent
Wizard prompts you to select a presentation type. To help you
identify presentation types quickly, the wizard organizes
presentations by category.
3 Click Projects.
4 In the list on the right, click Project Overview.

5 Click Next.
The AutoContent Wizard now prompts you to select a media type
for the presentation.
6 Click the On-screen Presentation option if necessary to select that
presentation type.
7 Click Next.
The AutoContent Wizard now prompts you to enter information for
the title slide and for footer information to be included on each
In the steps throughout this slide.
book, bold type indicates text
that you should type exactly
8 Click in the Presentation title box, type New Employee Training
as it appears. If you make a Program and then press Tab.
mistake as you type the
information, press Backspace 9 In the Footer box, type Contoso, Ltd.
to delete the error, and then
10 Verify that the Date last updated and the Slide number check boxes
type the correct text.
are selected.
 Part V: Lesson 1 Creating a Presentation V-1.9

If you want to change any

11 Click Next, and then click Finish.
of the information you The PowerPoint presentation window appears with content
previously entered, click the provided by the AutoContent Wizard in outline form in the Outline
Back button.
tab of the Outline/Slides pane and the title slide in the Slide pane.
The name on the title slide is the name of the registered user.

Saving a Presentation
The work you have completed so far is stored only in your computer’s
temporary memory. To save your work for further use, you must give the
presentation a name and store it on your computer’s hard disk drive.

Almost every dialog box The first time you save a new presentation, the Save As dialog box opens when
includes a question mark you choose the Save command. In the Save As dialog box, you can name the
button in the upper-right presentation and choose where to save it. Once you name a presentation, you
corner of its window. When
you click this button and then
can save the changes you just made by clicking the Save button on the Standard
click any dialog box control, a toolbar or by selecting Save on the File menu. In other words, the newer
Help window appears that version overwrites the original version. If you want to keep both the original
explains what the control is
file and the new version, you can choose the Save As command on the File
and how to use it.
menu to save the new version with a new name.
In this exercise, you save a presentation.
1 On the Standard toolbar, click the Save button.
PowerPoint displays the Save As dialog box, as shown in the
The Places Bar along the left
illustration on the following page. The text in the box next to the
side of the Save As dialog
box provides convenient label File name is selected so that you can type a presentation
access to commonly used name.
locations for saving files.
 V-1.10 Computer Fundamentals

To create a new presentation

from existing slides, click File
on the menu bar, click Save
As, type a new name in the 2 In the File Name box, type Contoso Employee Training Report Pres
File name box, and then click 01.
Save.
The word Pres in the file name is an abbreviation for Presentation.

If your hard disk uses a letter

3 Click the Save In down arrow, and then click drive C.
other than C, substitute the
4 In the list of file and folder names, double-click the Computer
appropriate drive letter in
place of C. Fundamentals Practice folder, then the Part V folder, and then
double-click the Lesson01 folder.
5 Click Save or press Enter to save the presentation.
The title bar name changes from Presentation1 to Contoso
Employee Training Report Pres 01.

tip
PowerPoint saves presentations for recovery in case the program stops
responding or you lose power. PowerPoint saves the changes in a recovery
file based on the settings in the AutoRecover save features. On the Tools
menu, click Options, click the Save tab, select the Save AutoRecover info
check box, specify the period of time in which to save, and then click OK.

Lesson Wrap-Up
This lesson covered how to start PowerPoint, explore the PowerPoint window,
choose a method to start a presentation, create a presentation using the
AutoContent Wizard, and save a presentation.
If you are continuing to the next lesson:
■ On the File menu, click Close. If PowerPoint prompts you to save
changes, click Yes.
PowerPoint saves any changes and closes the presentation.
Part V: Lesson 1 Creating a Presentation V-1.11

If you are not continuing to other lessons:

■ Click the Close button in the top-right corner of the PowerPoint
window. If PowerPoint prompts you to save changes, click Yes.
PowerPoint saves any changes, closes the presentation, and then
exits.

Quick Quiz
1 What are the options for beginning a PowerPoint session?
2 How do you create a presentation using a wizard?
3 How do you save two versions of the same file?

Putting It All Together

Exercise 1: Your manager asks you to create a business plan. To help you get
started, use the AutoContent Wizard to create the new presentation. Create an
on-screen business plan presentation with the title Business Plan and the footer
Contoso, Ltd. Save the presentation as Business Plan in the Part V, Lesson01
folder that is located in the Computer Fundamentals Practice folder.
Exercise 2: You work for a computer services company named A. Datum
Corporation that customizes systems for small businesses. Your company was
counting on winning a contract to supply 25 new computers to a local school
but was underbid by a new firm in your area. Use the AutoContent Wizard’s
Communicating Bad News template to break the news to your other
employees. Modify the suggested content of the slides to fit your situation.
Save the presentation as Badnews in the Part V, Lesson01 folder that is located
in the Computer Fundamentals Practice folder.
Exercise 3: A. Datum Corporation, your company, wants to avoid losing more
contracts. Your boss has scheduled a sales meeting and wants you to put
together a presentation that will help the sales force focus on A. Datum
Corporation’s services and strengths. Use the AutoContent Wizard’s Selling a
Product or Service template and then customize the slides to explain the needs
of A. Datum Corporation’s clients and how A. Datum Corporation can meet
them with customer service and price strategies. Save the presentation as
Selling in the Part V, Lesson01 folder that is located in the Computer
Fundamentals Practice folder and leave it open for the next exercise.