Starting the Program

Launch PowerPoint.

You’ll first see a window with four options offered: AutoContent Wizard,
Template, Blank Presentation, and Open a Presentation. Choose Blank
Presentation and hit Open.

New Slide window will appear. This option appears every time you set up a
new slide. Choose the type of slide you need (usually presentations start with a
Title slide, the default). Select Title Slide and click OK.

A white slide with two text boxes should appear.

Click on the top text box and start typing in the presentation title. You can
change font type and size the same way you do with Word processing
programs. Add a subtitle if you wish.

Adding Clip Art and Other Images

If you would like to add clipart to this slide (or any slide), go to Insert,
Picture, Clip Art. Choose the image you want, select it, and click Insert. The
picture will appear on your slide in its default size.

If you have an image you’ve scanned in or which you’ve pulled off the net, you
can also add it to your show by going to Insert, Picture, From File and finding
your picture on your disk, selecting it and inserting it.

You can manipulate the size of the image by clicking on one of the boxes
surrounding it and dragging the mouse (in or out) to the size you want. You can
also move the picture by clicking on it and dragging it. The best way to learn to
manipulate the images is just to play with them.

Additional Slides

Once you’re happy with the looks of your first slide, you can add a new slide by
clicking on New Slide in the Common Tasks menu or by going to Insert,  New
Slide. You’ll need to choose the type of slide you want as you did with the first
slide. Add the information you want to this slide and continue creating new slides
until you’re done making your presentation.

Adding a Design or a Background

Once you’re done with the show (or at the beginning if you prefer), you can add
a design to the slide show (or a background to slides) so that they’re not just
white. To add a design from the database, click on Apply Design in the
Common Tasks menu or go to Format, Apply Design. There are a number of
designs to choose from. Simply select the one you want and it will be applied to
all of your slides.

If you do not want a specific design, you can insert your own background by
going to Format, Background and clicking on the arrow beside the white box
in the window that appears. Select Fill Effects from the menu which appears.
You can now play with the color schemes or textures, and you can even import
a texture you've created or downloaded by clicking on Other Texture under
the Texture section of this window and then finding the image you want to use.
You can apply your chosen background to the entire slide show or just to the
slide you’re presently working on.

If you choose a dark background (not a design), you may need to change the
text color. Do that under Format, Slide Color Scheme.

Adding Transitions

Once you're happy with the colors, you may now wish to add transitions to the
slide show. Go to View, Slide Sorter and all of your slide should appear in
miniature form. Click on the button beside the No Transition box. A window
should appear with either a picture of a dog or a key. Click the arrow beside the
box labeled No Transition under the image and select one of the transition
options. The image will shift to show the transition. You can adjust the speed of
the transition. Once you've chosen your transition, click either Apply (to apply it
only to the single slide) or Apply to All to set the entire Slide Show to the
Transition.

View Your Slide Show

Once you've created the slide show, you want to view it, so go to View, Slide
Show. Which ever slide is selected is the one that will appear when you start the
show, so make sure you’ve selected the first one. To move from slide to slide,
all you have to do is click on the mouse. When you get to the last slide and click,
the slide show will automatically end and you’ll go back to where you were
when you selected to view the show.

The above information is merely an overview of the basics of PowerPoint. The
best way to learn is to play around with the program.

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Thanks to Dr. Amie A. Doughty for this page.