2. To create a presentation from scratch, go to “file”
on the top of the screen and click “New
presentation”. This will give you a blank
presentation to customize with colour, font and
layout. A “theme” created by you.
3. PowerPoint has theme templates for you to
choose from as well. Go to “file” and click “New
from template”. This option allows you to focus
just on the content (what you want to say in your
presentation), rather than the imagery and
presentation as well. I always use a template to
get started and I make customizations as I move
along in my presentation.
4. Your presentation will be divided into frames on
the left side of your screen called “slides”.
5. Have a lot to say in your presentation? You can
organize your slides in different “sections” by
going to “insert” at the top of your page and
clicking on “section”. This lets you name and
customize multiple slides at a time without
affecting the entire presentation.
6. To add more slides, click the “new slide” button
on the top left-hand side of your page. When you
hove your cursor over the button, an arrow
pointing down appears. Click on that arrow to
choose the layout of your next slide.
8. You may want to add different types of imagery or media
(video or audio) to your presentation. To find the best layout,
use that arrow button on the “new slide” button to select the
best option.
• For example, if you want to present a video in a new slide,
hover over “new slide”, click on the arrow and select
“media with caption”.
• This option highlights your video and lets you describe it in
a section below. These options organize your slides so that
they don’t look messy and are easy to follow along.
9. Next to your “new slide” button, you have a
“home” toolbar of options to play with. Options for
your text (font, font color, font size, line spacing,
etc), inserting a text box (a section of your slide
reserved for your writing), inserting photos, shapes
and media are all here.
• This is also where you’ll find the button to play
your presentation from the beginning to the end.
10. • Sometimes when you have a lot of content on
one slide, things can overlap and get cut off.
To put the most important content at the front
(a bit of writing should be on top of an image,
not behind it), use the “arrange” button that is
also found on this toolbar.
11. The “theme” toolbar gives you options for your
presentation’s theme. It is best for you to select
one theme at the start of your presentation, and
ignore this toolbar as much as possible.
12. • The next toolbar is “charts”. When you learn
more about the program excel and use it for
calculations, you can import charts and data
into your presentation in a format that’s
visually appealing.
13. • The “smartart” toolbar lets you organize
information with graphics that pop out. If you
want to highlight the relationship between
different bits of information, use one of the
options in this toolbar.
14. • One of the important toolbars to use when
creating a visually interesting presentation is the
“transitions” toolbar. This allows you to give
each slide a movement that introduces it to your
audience.
• When you have a lot of slides in your
presentation, they mostly look alike a may bore
whoever is watching. A transition lets them know
that there’s new information on the screen.
15. • Finally, the most fun part of creating your
presentation can be found in the “animations”
toolbar. Just like a “transition” and animation
lets you make sure your audiences notices the
most important information in each slide.
• You can click on any picture, media or text box,
and select an animation setting that will make it
stand out. Don’t use this feature for everything!
You don’t want your audience distracted by too
much animation.
