How to Create Powerpoint Presentations

How to Create PowerPoint Presentations

When you load PowerPoint you will be asked to choose how you wish to create a new presentation. Click on Blank presentation.

This will take you to another dialogue box asking you to choose the AutoLayout that you prefer. Choose the blank one as shown.

You will then go to a screen with your first blank slide ready to insert text and graphics. Note that although the toolbars at the top look very similar to those in Word, there are some differences on both the Menu Toolbar and the Standard Toolbar.

Click on Insert and then on Text Box.

Then move the cursor onto the blank slide, click and drag the text box to the approximate size you require. Type in some text, customising it in the normal way.

Click on Insert again and this time choose Picture and From File….

A dialogue box will appear. Choose your picture/photograph, click on it and then on the Insert button to the right.

Your graphic will appear on the page and can be dragged and dropped into position. The size can then be adjusted as required.

Slide 1 is now complete.

Now create Slide 2 in the same way after clicking on Insert and New Slide.

Click on View then Slide Sorter,

or on this icon at the bottom left corner of the screen.

A screen will appear showing thumbnails of all the slides in the presentation (in this case only two).

At the moment these are two separate slides that could be shown by clicking on Slide Show and then View Show. The first slide will appear on full screen and the second slide will appear after a click. Two more clicks will take you back to the thumbnail screen. To link the two slides using a more interesting transition effect, bring the second slide back up on the screen by double clicking on its thumbnail, then click on Slide Show and Slide Transition….

A new dialogue box will appear. Choose the transition effect from the drop down list (in this case Checkerboard Down has been chosen).

From this dialogue box you can also choose the speed of transition (fast in this case) and whether the transition occurs automatically after a number of seconds or on a click of the mouse. Click on Apply or Apply to All after choosing your transition effect.

To see the slide show you have produced click on View on the menu bar and then Slide Show from that menu, or Slide Show on the menu bar and then View Show from that menu!

Now add some animation! Click on the text or picture (graphic) so that it is highlighted with the eight boxes around the edge, then click on Slide Show and Custom Animation….

The dialogue box below will appear.

Text can be animated so that it all appears All at once, By word or By letter. Here it will just Appear word by word, with no sound. Click on OK after choosing the animation, then highlight the next piece of text or object that you wish to animate, e.g. the graphic in this case.

In this example the graphic (Picture frame 2 in the Animation order box) will 'Crawl' on from the right of the screen accompanied by a 'Whoosh' noise! You can preview your animation in a thumbnail by clicking on Slide Show and then Animation Preview. Have fun experimenting!

Sound recordings that you have made and saved or downloaded, can also be inserted into a slide. Click on Insert and choose Movies and Sounds and Sounds from file….

Now devise a slide show of your own. You might like to use a Master Slide to include a Footer or Header and the date and/or slide number. Click on View then Master and finally Slide Master. For example you could include the name of your school as a Footer on your own slide show.

Save your presentation in the normal way through File and Save As….