Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Basic tasks for creating a powerpoint presentation

PowerPoint presentations work like slide shows. To convey a message or a story, you break it down into slides. Think of each slide as a blank canvas for the pictures and words that help you tell your story.

Choose a theme

When you open PowerPoint, you'll see some built-in themes and templates. A theme is a slide design that contains matching colors, fonts, and special effects like shadows, reflections, and more.

  1. On the File tab of the Ribbon, select New, and then choose a theme.

    PowerPoint shows you a preview of the theme, with four color variations to choose from on the right side.

  2. Click Create, or pick a color variation and then click Create.

    Shows the Create New presentation from Theme dialog in PowerPoint

Read more: Use or create themes in PowerPoint

Insert a new slide

  • On the Home tab, click the bottom half of New Slide, and pick a slide layout.

    Shows New Slide button on Home tab of the ribbon in PowerPoint

Read more: Add, rearrange, and delete slides.

Save your presentation

  1. On the File tab, choose Save.

  2. Pick or browse to a folder.

  3. In the File name box, type a name for your presentation, and then choose Save.

Note: If you frequently save files to a certain folder, you can 'pin' the path so that it is always available (as shown below).

Save your PowerPoint presentation

Tip: Save your work as you go. Press Ctrl+S often.

Read more: Save your presentation file

Add text

Select a text placeholder, and begin typing.

Shows adding text to a text field in PowerPoint

Format your text

  1. Select the text.

  2. Under Drawing Tools, choose Format.

    Shows the Drawing Tools tab on the ribbon in PowerPoint

  3. Do one of the following:

    • To change the color of your text, choose Text Fill, and then choose a color.

    • To change the outline color of your text, choose Text Outline, and then choose a color.

    • To apply a shadow, reflection, glow, bevel, 3-D rotation, a transform, choose Text Effects, and then choose the effect you want.

Read more:

Add pictures

On the Insert tab, do one of the following:

  • To insert a picture that is saved on your local drive or an internal server, choose Pictures, browse for the picture, and then choose Insert.

  • To insert a picture from the web, choose Online Pictures, and use the search box to find a picture.

    Insert Pictures dialog in PowerPoint

    Choose a picture, and then click Insert.

Add shapes

You can add shapes to illustrate your slide. 

  1. On the Insert tab, select Shapes, and then select a shape from the menu that appears.

  2. In the slide area, click and drag to draw the shape.

  3. Select the Format or Shape Format tab on the ribbon. Open the Shape Styles gallery to quickly add a color and style (including shading) to the selected shape.

    Shape Styles group

Add speaker notes

Slides are best when you don't cram in too much information. You can put helpful facts and notes in the speaker notes, and refer to them as you present.

  1. To open the notes pane, at the bottom of the window, click Notes notes button in PowerPoint.

  2. Click inside the Notes pane below the slide, and begin typing your notes.

    Shows the speaker Notes pane in PowerPoint

Read more:

Give your presentation

On the Slide Show tab, do one of the following:

Get out of Slide Show view

To get out of Slide Show view at any time, on the keyboard, press Esc.

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Choose a theme

When you start a new presentation PowerPoint, you'll have the opportunity to choose a theme or template. A theme is a slide design that contains matching colors, fonts, and special effects like shadows, reflections, and more.

  1. On the File tab, select New, and then, under Available Templates and Themes, choose Themes.

    As you click each theme, PowerPoint shows you a preview on the right side.

  2. When you find the one you want, click Create.

    Shows a preview of a theme

Read more: Use or create themes in PowerPoint

Insert a new slide

  • On the Home tab, click the bottom half of New Slide, and pick a slide layout.

    Shows New Slide button on Home tab of the ribbon in PowerPoint

Read more: Add, rearrange, and delete slides.

Save your presentation

  1. On the File tab, choose Save.

  2. In the File name box, type a name for your presentation, and then choose Save.

Tip: Save your work as you go. Press Ctrl+S often.

Read more: Save your presentation file

Add text

Select a text placeholder, and begin typing.

Shows adding text to a text field in PowerPoint

Format your text

  1. Select the text.

  2. Under Drawing Tools, choose Format.

    Shows the Drawing Tools tab on the ribbon in PowerPoint

  3. Do one of the following:

    • To change the color of your text, choose Text Fill, and then choose a color.

    • To change the outline color of your text, choose Text Outline, and then choose a color.

    • To apply a shadow, reflection, glow, bevel, 3-D rotation, a transform, choose Text Effects, and then choose the effect you want.

Read more:

Add pictures

  1. On the Insert tab, choose Picture.

  2. Browse for the picture you want, and then choose Insert.

Add shapes

You can add shapes to illustrate your slide. 

  1. On the Insert tab, select Shapes, and then select a shape from the menu that appears.

  2. In the slide area, click and drag to draw the shape.

  3. Select the Drawing Tools Format tab on the ribbon. Open the Shape Styles gallery to quickly add a color and style (including shading) to the selected shape.

    Shape Styles group

Add speaker notes

Slides are best when you don't cram in too much information. You can put helpful facts and notes in the speaker notes, and refer to them as you present. In Normal view, the Notes pane is located just below the slide view window.

  1. On the View tab, in the Presentation Views group, click Normal.

  2. Click inside the Notes pane below the slide, and begin typing your notes.

    Shows the Notes pane below the slide window

Give your presentation

On the Slide Show tab, do one of the following:

  • To start the presentation at the first slide, in the Start Slide Show group, click From Beginning.

    Shows the Slide Show tab on the ribbon in PowerPoint

  • If you're not at the first slide and want to start from where you are, click From Current Slide.

  • If you need to present to people who are not where you are, click Broadcast Slide Show to set up a presentation on the web. To learn more, see Broadcast your PowerPoint presentation to a remote audience.

Get out of Slide Show view

To get out of Slide Show view at any time, on the keyboard, press Esc.

Tips for creating an effective presentation

Consider the following tips to keep your audience interested.

Minimize the number of slides

To maintain a clear message and to keep your audience attentive and interested, keep the number of slides in your presentation to a minimum.

Choose an audience-friendly font size

The audience must be able to read your slides from a distance. Generally speaking, a font size smaller than 30 might be too difficult for the audience to see.

Keep your slide text simple

You want your audience to listen to you present your information, instead of reading the screen. Use bullets or short sentences, and try to keep each item to one line.

Some projectors crop slides at the edges, so that long sentences might be cropped.

Use visuals to help express your message

Pictures, charts, graphs, and SmartArt graphics provide visual cues for your audience to remember. Add meaningful art to complement the text and messaging on your slides.

As with text, however, avoid including too many visual aids on your slide.

Make labels for charts and graphs understandable

Use only enough text to make label elements in a chart or graph comprehensible.

Apply subtle, consistent slide backgrounds

Choose an appealing, consistent template or theme that is not too eye-catching. You don't want the background or design to detract from your message.

However, you also want to provide a contrast between the background color and text color. The built-in themes in PowerPoint set the contrast between a light background with dark colored text or dark background with light colored text.

For more information about how to use themes, see Apply a theme to add color and style to your presentation.

Check the spelling and grammar

To earn and maintain the respect of your audience, always check the spelling and grammar in your presentation.

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