Ever
wonder how to create a good PowerPoint presentation? Creating
professional, unique PowerPoint presentations with the latest version of
Microsoft Office is much easier than you think. This article will help
you find the tools to create exactly the presentation you want.
1. Grab viewers' attention
Here are a few ways to help grab and keep your viewers’ attention.
a. Select or create your own theme.
Themes
are the evolution of design templates in PowerPoint, but they're also
much more than that. Themes were introduced in Microsoft Office 2007 to
help you easily create the right look for your presentations and to
coordinate all of your Microsoft Office documents almost instantly.
A
theme is a coordinated set of fonts, colors, and graphic effects that
you can apply to your entire document with just a click. The same themes
are available for your Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, Microsoft
Word documents, Microsoft Excel workbooks, and even your Microsoft
Outlook email messages (and, in Office 2010, your Microsoft Access
database forms and reports), so it's easy to create your own personal or
business branding throughout all of your documents.
In PowerPoint, the theme also includes the slide master, slide layouts (and slide background options). When you apply a theme in your presentation, you automatically get slide
layouts, colors, fonts, and graphic effects that go together, and you
can format content with just a few clicks.
In the PowerPoint Ribbon (at the top of your screen), find many built-in themes on the
Design tab. To preview a theme, in the
Themes
gallery, simply hover your pointer over it. In Office 2010, you also
see a selection of themes in this gallery that are automatically updated
periodically from Office.com. Using the galleries on the
Design tab, you can also mix and match a slide design with different theme colors, fonts, and effects to quickly create your own look.
Note: If you change the theme in your presentation but
the formatting doesn't change, you may not have used theme-ready
formatting when you created your presentation. When you start with a new
PowerPoint 2010 or PowerPoint 2007 presentation, theme-ready formatting
is automatic for fonts and colors on slide layouts and for Microsoft
Office graphics, such as SmartArt graphics, charts, and shapes.
Examples:
b. Use video and audio to convey your message more effectively
Dynamic
content, such as a brief video that illustrates an important point, is a
great way to engage your audience. Using audio that helps convey your
message, like recorded narration (you can add this to slides when
sending your presentation to others to view), can also help keep your
slides clean and approachable.
In PowerPoint 2010, video you
insert from your files is now embedded by default, so you don't have to
include multiple files when sharing your presentation electronically.
You can also customize your embedded videos with easy-to-use tools, such
as video trim, fades, and effects. And with PowerPoint 2010, you can
insert a video that you've uploaded to a website to play directly in
your presentation.
c. Use graphics to emphasize key points
A well-chosen chart or
diagram can often convey much more to your audience than can boring
bulleted text. Fortunately, creating charts and graphics has never been
easier. In Office 2010 and Office 2007, Office graphics coordinate
automatically with the active theme in your presentation.
If
Excel is installed on your computer, you automatically get the power of
Excel charts when you create a chart in PowerPoint. Just click the
Chart icon on any content placeholder in the PowerPoint presentation to create a chart.
When
your chart is created, an Excel worksheet opens, and you can add and
edit your data. And when you select the chart in your document, you see
the Chart Tools
Design,
Layout, and
Format tabs that make it easy to format and edit your chart. Find chart styles on the
Design tab that automatically coordinate with your active document theme.
SmartArt graphics, introduced in Office 2007, enable you to create a
professional-quality diagram as easily as you can type a bulleted list.
Just type in the SmartArt text pane, and the diagram is automatically
built. SmartArt layouts are available for many types of diagrams,
ranging from simple lists to process diagrams, organization charts,
timelines, and much more. Click the
SmartArt icon on any content placeholder to add a SmartArt graphic.
When you type in the text pane, SmartArt adds your text to the
graphic. Press Enter to add a new shape or content at the same level,
and then press the Tab key to create a subshape or subcontent, as shown above.
When you select a SmartArt diagram, the SmartArt Tools tabs become
available on the Ribbon. On the SmartArt Tools Design tab, you can use
galleries to select a style that coordinates with the effects of your
theme and you can choose from several color options that also coordinate
with your theme. You can even select a different SmartArt layout to
apply to your active diagram. The layout is updated, but your content
and formatting remain. And you can point to options in any of those
galleries to see a preview of your selection on your active
graphic—before you apply it.
NB:
To convert a bulleted list to a SmartArt graphic, right-click in the list, point to
Convert to SmartArt, and then point to a layout to see a preview of the diagram on your active slide or click to apply the layout of your choice.
In
Office 2010, dozens of additional SmartArt graphics are available,
including more organization chart and picture layouts, along with
improved tools for working with picture diagrams.
d. Use animations and transitions wisely
Having text and
graphics appear on screen just when you need them can be a nice touch.
However, overdoing animation can detract from your presentation's
content. To emphasize your points without overwhelming
your audience, limit animation to key points and use consistent
animation choices throughout the presentation.
Customize, preview, and apply animations directly from the
Animations tab in PowerPoint 2010. In PowerPoint 2007, go to the
Animations tab and find the
Custom Animation pane.
Note:
Animation effects in PowerPoint 2010 are improved to provide more
realistic movement. You can also trigger animation of an object when you
reach a specific point in audio or video playback. Consistent or complementary choices in slide transitions can also provide a professional touch and help prevent distractions.Customize, preview, and apply transitions from the
Transitions tab in PowerPoint 2010 or the
Animations tab in PowerPoint 2007.
2. Clearly communicate your information
Presentation can make a
world of difference, and PowerPoint provides a host of tools for keeping
your slides consistent, precise, professional, and clear. You might be
surprised how using the slide master and layout formatting, for
instance, can take you from basic to brilliant.
a. Start by outlining your presentation.
Take the time to
outline your presentation before you create your slides. Doing so can
save time and help you give a more clear and effective presentation.
You
can create your outline by typing a slide title and bullet points for
your main topics on each slide. But you can also use the Outline pane to
type your entire presentation outline in one window and add slides to
your presentation as you go. To do this:
1. In Normal view, on the left of your PowerPoint screen, in the Slides pane, click the
Outline tab. (If you don't see the Slides pane, on the
View tab, click
Normal.)
2. Notice
that a slide number and icon appear for your first slide. Type a title
to the right of the icon, and then press Enter to create your next
slide.
3. Press the Tab key to demote the text level and add
points to the current slide in your outline. Or press Shift+Tab to
promote the text level and add an additional slide.
Note: PowerPoint 2010 adds a new feature, called slide
sections, that enables you to divide your presentations into logical
sections for easier organization, such as to assign a set of slides to
one author or to easily print just one section of slides.
b. Use masters and layouts to save time and help get better results.
The
slide master is one of the most important PowerPoint tools for creating
easy-to-use, great-looking presentations. The master gives you a
central place to add content and formatting that you want to appear on
all (or most) of your slides.
Formatting and layout changes on the slide
master automatically update throughout the slide layouts in your
presentation, saving you a tremendous amount of time and effort and
helping to keep your slides consistent. For example, place your logo on
the slide master, and it will appear on all slides in the presentation.
A
slide master includes a set of slide layouts for different types of
content. Nine slide layouts are available by default in the
Home
tab, and they are formatted based on the slide master. You can
customize any of these layouts individually and even create your own
custom slide layouts.
If you just need a single slide that doesn't fit an existing
slide layout and won't need to be reused, you can use the Title Only or
Blank slide layout and create your own unique slide. But if you will
reuse a layout for multiple slides in the same (or another)
presentation, create or customize a slide layout to avoid doing the same
work multiple times and to keep your slides looking professional and
consistent. To access the slide master, on the
View tab, click
Slide Master.
Notes: To hide graphics that you place on the master for just one slide, on the
Design tab, in the
Background group, click
Hide Background Graphics. Masters are also available for formatting notes pages and handouts. Find these options on the
View tab.
c. Consider differences between print and on-screen presentations.
Presentations
designed to be viewed on screen don't always work well when you print
them. Dark backgrounds that look good on slides, for example, rarely
print well. Similarly, footer content that you need in print is likely
to be distracting on screen. Fortunately, PowerPoint makes it easy to
switch between print and screen presentation options. Here are two
features that can help:
When you format your presentation
using a theme, slide master, and layouts, as described earlier in this
article, you can change from a light background to a dark background in
just a click, and text on your slides automatically changes color to be
visible on the new background. Find the slide background gallery on the
Design tab, in the
Background group.
To quickly show or hide footer, page number, and date content on all slides at once, on the
Insert tab, click
Header & Footer. In the
Header & Footer dialog box, choose to display them or hide them, and then click Apply to All. ((
Note
that if you remove the footer, page number, or date placeholder on any
slide, the slide will not display this content—even if you turn it on in
this dialog box.)
d. Use notes pages and handouts to help deliver the story.
Use
the Notes pane that appears below the slide in Normal view to write
notes to yourself for your presentation or to create notes that you can
print for your viewers instead of crowding your slides with text. You
can also format and print handouts that contain up to nine slides per
page.
3. Stay in control of your presentations
Custom colors, layouts,
and graphics can do a lot for your presentation. But a misaligned
flowchart or a presentation that crashes on your client's computer isn't
likely to make the impression you want. For example, look at these two
timeline graphic images:
Two versions of the same content: Nudging and fussing to create the
graphic on the left took about an hour, and it's far from perfect. Using
PowerPoint tools, it took just a few minutes to create the flawless
diagram on the right.
a. Keep file size manageable.
A common cause of stress when you
work in PowerPoint is that the file becomes too large to edit or for the
presentation to run smoothly. Fortunately, this problem is easy to
avoid by compressing the media in your files and using native PowerPoint
features whenever possible (such as tables, charts, SmartArt graphics,
and shapes) instead of importing and embedding objects from other
programs.
Note: PowerPoint 2010 also gives you the ability to compress the embedded video and audio files in your presentation. Do the Following
1. Open the presentation that contains the audio or video files.
2. On the
File tab, click
Info, and then in the
Media Size and Performance section, click
Compress Media.
3. To specify the quality of the video, whicn in turn, determines the size of the video, select one of the following:
- Presentation Quality Save space while maintaining overall audio and video quality.
- Internet Quality Quality will be comparable to media which is streamed over the Internet.
- Low Quality Use when space is limited, such as when you are sending presentations via e-mail.
b. Use the tools available to get it right the first time.
You've
already seen in this article that you can use features like slide
layouts to quickly create consistent slides or use tools such as
SmartArt graphics to create a professional-quality graphic in no time.
But when you need to do your own thing—and that thing doesn't belong on a
slide layout or fit an available graphic style—PowerPoint still
provides tools to save you time and improve your results.
c. Turn off (or manage) AutoCorrect layout options.
PowerPoint
provides several automatic formatting options to help your slides
conform to the provided layouts. They can be big time-savers, but they
can also be frustrating if you're not using them intentionally and if
they cause formatting (such as the font size in slide titles) to become
inconsistent from one slide to the next. If you don't want your text to
shrink automatically to fit content, you can easily disable those
features in the
AutoCorrect Options dialog box.
1. In PowerPoint 2010, click the
File tab to open Backstage view, and then click Options. In PowerPoint 2007, click the
Microsoft Office button and then click
PowerPoint Options.
2. On the
Proofing tab, click
AutoCorrect Options.
3. On the
AutoFormat As You Type tab, clear the
AutoFit title text to placeholder and
AutoFit body text to placeholder check boxes.
3. Know exactly what your viewers will see.
When you want to be
sure that what you send is what viewers will see, you can save the
presentation in the PowerPoint slide show format so that the show starts
for the recipients as soon as they open the file. But some variables,
such as whether media will play correctly on the recipient's computer,
may still affect what viewers see.
PowerPoint 2010 introduces a
new feature that makes it easy to share your presentation perfectly with
almost anyone, anywhere. You can now create a high-quality video of
your presentation, complete with your saved narration and timings, in
just a few clicks. PowerPoint creates the video in the background while
you keep working.
Author Murigi Benson B-com - Finance UoN
