PowerPoint Hints & Tips - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

PowerPoint Hints & Tips

This example file gives you some examples of good and bad practice plus problem-solving tipsSlide2

Accessibility

When creating a show, you need to think about your audience and cater for those sitting at the back and those who have a visual impairment.

For a good presentation, you need:

Clear slides – easy to read, for everyone in the room

Limited information on each slide – use bullet points to remind you of what you need to saySlide3

Choosing Fonts

Choose simple, clear fonts for your presentation – sans-serif fonts are best.

An

Unsuitable Font

A Good FontSlide4

Choosing a Theme

The background makes this slide very difficult to read, especially where light in colour

Try some different themes (on the Design tab) to see which are and which aren’t suitable

Press

<Esc>

to stop the show

Go to the

Design

tab and try out some of the other themes

Resume the show by pressing

<Shift F5>Slide5

University Templates

For official University presentations (lectures, conference papers

etc

) staff should be using the templates

provided by the

Design & Print StudioSlide6

Bulleted Lists

It’s better not to have everything shown all at once:

First point

Second

Third

Fourth

FifthSlide7

Bulleted Lists

Instead, apply animation so they appear and then fade:

First point

Second

Third

Fourth

FifthSlide8

Or Add Callouts

You can add any extra information here

And further information hereSlide9

Adding Callouts

Try adding your own callout to this slide:

Press

<Esc>

to stop the show

Go to the

Insert

tab and click on

[Shapes]

Select one of the callout shapes

Using the mouse, drag out the shape – you can easily modify this later if necessary

Type the text into the callout

Move to the

Animations

tab and click on

[Appear]

Run the slide – press

<Shift F5>Slide10

Replacing Text

If you have a lot to say, you can replace one box of text with another. This is also useful for a question and answer slide:

What is the English translation of the Greek:

Πώς σε λένε

Το

ονομά

μου είναι …

Answer:

What is your name?

My name is …

To achieve this effect, the second text box must have a solid fill, which blocks out the original text.Slide11

This paragraph is about to be zoomed so that people at the back of the class can read it more

easily.

Zooming

If you have a lot to say or want to emphasize something, consider zooming in/out:Slide12

Transitions

Can make your presentation look very professional

Choose what you want from those provided on the

Transitions

tabSlide13

Transitions

That was a sensible transitionSlide14

Transitions

That was a bit flashySlide15

Transitions

That was NOT a sensible transitionSlide16

Selecting Items

Click on a placeholder then press <Esc> to select it

Press <Tab> to jump between items

Try it yourself on this slide:

Press

<Esc>

to stop the show

Click inside the slide’s heading

Press

<Esc>

- note that the placeholder’s handles now appear

Press

<Tab>

to see what happens

See if you can discover a hidden shape – if you do, go to the

Format

tab and click on the arrow next to

[Bring Forward]

and then

Bring to Front

Press

<Shift F5>

to resume the showSlide17

Guides

Viewing the

Ruler

and

Guides

help you place items precisely. To check whether the blue rectangle below is properly centred:

Press

<Esc>

then go to the

View

tab and turn on the

Guides

Click on the rectangle then use the arrow keys to move it, if necessary

then press

<Shift F5>

to resume the showSlide18

Lining up Objects

When you draw shapes, you may want to space them evenly or line them up. First you need to select them:

Press

<Esc>

to suspend the show

Using the mouse, drag a rectangle over the circles – the handles appear (you can also

<Shift click>

to select them)

Go to the

Format

tab and click on

[Align]

Choose

Align Top

then click again to

Distribute Horizontally

Resume the show – press

<Shift F5>Slide19

Hidden Slides

Sometimes, it’s useful to have extra, hidden, slides. You can then show them if:

Someone asks a particular question

If you find you have time to expand on a subject

The next slide is hidden. If you press

<Enter>

or click with the mouse, you will miss it. To see it you have to press

<h>

.Slide20

Hidden Slides

This is the hidden slide on which you can add more text to show if you need to.

To hide/unhide a slide:

Click on the slide to select it

Either

right click

and choose

Hide Slide

or use the

[Hide Slide]

button on the

Slide Show

tab

Note:

the same command both hides and

unhides

the slides. Try

unhiding

this slide then resume the

show.Slide21

Moving Around

Sometimes, you may be asked to go back a slide if you moved on too quickly.

To move back press:

<p>

or use

<

left-arrow

>

or

<

up-arrow

>

To move

on, click with the mouse or press

:

<Enter>

or

<n>

or

<

right-arrow

>

or

<

down-arrow

>

You can also move to a particular slide by typing in its number then pressing

<Enter>

. Pressing

<End>

moves you to the last slide (

<Home>

to the first).Slide22

Moving Around

You can also

right click

on a slide to display a pop-up menu, including

Go to Slide

but this isn’t so professional.

Try moving to the hidden slide:

Either: Type

20

and press

<Enter>

Or:

Right click,

Go to Slide

and choose slide

20

Then:

Either: Type

22

and press

<Enter>

Or:

Right

click,

Go to Slide

and choose slide

22Slide23

Action Buttons

An

Action Button

allows you to do something (eg go back a slide or load a program like Excel) simply by moving over it or by clicking on it.

This particular slide has a hidden

Action Button

which takes you to the next slide. The button is placed in the top left corner of the slide:

Move the mouse into the top left corner and see what happensSlide24

Action Buttons

To create an

Action Button

:

Press

<Esc>

to suspend the show

In the

Insert

tab, click on

[Shapes]

Choose the blank

Action Button

(bottom right)

Drag out a (blue) rectangle in the top right corner

Set the

Action

to

Hyperlink to:

Last Slide Viewed

On the

Format

tab set

[Shape Fill]

to

No Fill

Also, set

[Shape Outline]

to

No Outline

Finally, press

<Shift F5>

then click in the top rightSlide25

Action Buttons and Master Slides

Ideally, the

Action Button

should be on the

Slide Master

(so it is available on all slides). Sadly, the instructions

below disappear

when you go to the

Slide Master

so take a note of them first:

Press

<Esc>

to suspend the show

Move to the

View

tab and choose

[Slide Master]

Select the master at the top of the list on the left

Add the

Action Button

exactly as before

Click on

[Close Master View]

then p

ress

<Shift F5

>

Type

2

and press

<Enter>

to go to slide 2 then click on the hidden action button to return to this slideSlide26

Adding Annotations

You can write on slides using a pen or highlighter. At the end of the show, you can choose whether or not to keep the annotations. Try this here:

Press

<Ctrl p>

for a pen and use the mouse to annotate this slide

Press

<Ctrl a>

to return the mouse to normal

You can also

right click

to get to these facilities and also to change the pen colour or choose a highlighter.Slide27

The End

I hope you found this presentation useful and that you will be encouraged to use some of the tips in your own presentations.

For further help with PowerPoint:

Make use of our advanced notes online

Come to a drop-in session for one-to-one tuition or help with a particular problem

Go to the web sites listed

in the notes