Objectivesof this Tutorial
Generally: To create new slides and add text to them.
Specifically: On completion of this section, you will be able to:
- Create a new blank presentation
- Insert a new slide
- Add text to a slide
- Move, copy and delete text
- Convert the case of text
- Create bulleted Lists
- Add text in the Outline pane
- Import text from MS Word 2000
- Save and close a presentation
Designing Effective Slides
If your presentation is to convey more than a message across to your audience then the fundamentals of good design must apply. Good presentations stick to the basics.
The majority of slides in a presentation are text based. The text on the slides should act as a guide to the presentation, and not a detailed report on the presentation - that is for you to give as the speaker. Follow these simple rules:
- Each slide should discuss only one major topic
- There should be no more than five bullet points per slide
- Where possible each bullet point should be a single line of text
Do not overpower or confuse your audience. The information on your slides should be relevant to the presentation and to the point. Minimising the number of words will make it easier for your audience to follow things.
Though most slides will be text-based, a presentation consisting entirely of text can get very monotonous. Using relevant and interesting charts, graphs and graphics are a good way of lifting your presentation.
Anything you can put on a slide (including text) is called an object. PowerPoint greatly simplifies the task of arranging objects on a slide. This help comes in the form of AutoLayouts. AutoLayouts are default slide layouts with different object placeholders and arrangements. Using an AutoLayout, you can choose a slide layout that contains the object placeholders you need for your current slide. Placeholders appear as faint dotted lines on the slide and contain identifying text, such as "Click to add text".
In case PowerPoint does not have the exact AutoLayout to suit your requirements, there is also a completely blank one to which you can add any object you like.
Creating a New Blank Presentation
To create a new blank presentation
- From the File menu, select New
New dialogue box
- On the General tab, select the Blank Presentation icon
- Click OK
Tip: Pressing Ctrl + N or clicking the New button 
on the Standard toolbar, automatically creates a new presentation based on the Blank Presentation template.
The New Slide dialogue box is displayed.
New Slide dialogue box
The solid grey lines at the top of each slide layout represent the slide title. Other text is represented by faint grey lines. Text is nearly always formatted with bullets. Vertical bars represent graphs, and placeholders with pictures represent clip art or pictures.
- Select an appropriate AutoLayout
The description of that AutoLayout is displayed on the right of the dialogue box.
The new presentation is displayed in Normal view.
A new Title slide showing Title and Subtitle placeholders
Continued...
