Introductory Guide to Microsoft Power Point
Microsoft Power Point is a program that may be used to
create electronic presentations. It is extremely easy to develop a simple
presentation. This page is meant to introduce you to some of Power Point's
basic features. To learn more about specific features of Power Point, I
recommend taking the workshops
offered in the Electronic Media Center or one of the Office of Information
Technology's Computer Short Courses.
I have xeroxed copies of the Computer Short Courses' guide
to Introductory and Intermediate Power Point and left these in faculty
mailboxes. If you have not received one and would like a copy, please contact
me at etobey@wam.umd.edu. These guides were designed
for learning Power Point on a PC; my guide below is for learning Power
Point on a Mac, but both versions of the program are similiar.
Table of Contents:
Power Point versus other Presentation
Tools:
With the increasing use of computers in the lecture hall,
it is possible to project almost any application on a computer onto a screen.
It is therefore possible to create a simple presentation in a word processing
program such as Microsoft Word, although it is difficult to manipulate
and format the layout of images.
Some people prefer to design presentations in a web editor
such as Dreamweaver or Netscape Composer. If your presentation is text-based,
Dreamweaver might be a suitable option. The advantages of using a web editor
for presentations is that these pages can later be posted on the Web without
having to change anything about their formatting. However, there are some
distinct drawbacks. Whenever you insert images into a web editor, these
images have be on a server or link to images already on a server (such
as Caprina), so you must have a live Internet connection in the classroom
in which you show your presentation. The disadvantages to using a web editor
for presentations is that if the server is down or the connection is slow,
it could serious compromise your presentation.
The advantage of Power Point is that it is specifically
designed with presentations in mind, has built-in clip art and graphics
features, does not rely on an Internet connection, and allows you to resize
and position images easily.
Finding Power Point and Creating
a New Presentation:
-
Go to the Launcher (this can be found under the Apple menu
under Control Panels) and click on Applications. Click on the icon for
Microsoft Power Point. On other computers you may find Power Point in Microsoft
Office, under Applications on the hard drive.
-
A dialog box will appear allowing you the options to create
a new presentation or open an existing one. You can create a new presentation
using the Auto Content Wizard (which will take you through step-by-step
how to make a simple presentation), using a Template, or using a Blank
Presentation.
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To create a presentation using a template, select the button
for Template and click OK. This will bring up a screen that will allow
you to select a template. By clicking on the icons on the left hand side,
you may select a Template. On the right hand side is a window that shows
what each template will look like. Select a template and click OK. Power
Point will apply that template to each slide in your presentation.
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To create a presentation using a Blank Presentation, select
Blank Presentation and click OK.
Formatting Your Presentation:
-
Power Point constructs presentations using "slides," individual
screens that can arranged and re-arranged in a particular presenting order.
You will be prompted to select an Auto Format for a new slide. Since you
will probably start your presentation with a title slide, select the Title
Slide format by clicking on the title slide icon in the upper left hand
corner of the selection window. Then click on OK.
-
A Title Slide will appear. Click in the title box and enter
a title for your presentation. Then click in the box below and enter a
sub-title or your name.
-
You can format the appearance of your slide. Go to Format
and select Format Color Scheme. This will open up a selection box. In the
Standard Format tab, you can select pre-set color schemes. Click on the
icon on the left of the scheme you want. By clicking on Apply, you apply
this scheme to this one particular slide. If you click Apply to All, you
can apply this scheme to every slide in the entire presentation. Power
Point advises that you use a light background for overhead presentations
and a dark background for screen presentations.
-
By selecting the Custom Format tab, you can specify the colors
and styles you wish to apply to your presentation. On the left hand side
are thumbnails showing the Scheme Colors for the background, text and lines,
shadows, title, fills (colors used to fill drawn shapes), accents, and
links. Power Point pre-sets certain colors. To change any of these, click
on the box of the color you wish to change, and click on the button Change
Color. You may select a color from the polygonal palette under Standard
Colors, or you may click on the Custom color tab and click anywhere in
the color spectrum. A swatch on the right will show you the color you have
selected. By moving the arrow along the grayscale to the right of the spectrum,
you can change the hue/tint of the color selected. Click on OK when you've
found the color you want.
Formatting Tips:
It is always a good idea to use contrasting text and background
colors so that your presentation will be legible. PowerPoint recommends
that you use a light text against a dark background for screen presentations.
However, if you plan to use your presentation both in the lecture hall
and on the web, it is best to design it with a white background and a dark
text.
Changing Appearance of Text:
-
You can change the appearance of the text you've typed. Using
the cursor, highlight the text to select it. Go to Format and Font. At
the top of the Font dialog box, you will see fields specifying the name
of the font, it's style, and the point size. From the lists below each
you can scroll down and select another font, style, or point size.
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Remember, when selecting font, style, and point size, think
of whether what you've selected will be easily legible on an overhead or
screen. 44 or larger is a good point size for titles, while 36 or 40 is
a good size for normal slide text.
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By clicking on the arrow to the right of the color box, you
can select the color of the font. By clicking on More Colors, you can select
a custom color.
-
In the Effects section of the box, you can check off various
selections to underline, outline, shadow, or emboss text. You can also
choose to subscript or superscript the text.
-
By checking off the box "Default for new objects," you will
apply these font style selections to all new text in your presentation.
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By clicking on the Preview button, you can see what your
selections will look like.
-
Click on OK to apply your selections.
-
Remember to save your presentation as you add to it/make
changes.
Creating New Slides and Organizing
Slides:
-
To insert a new slide into the presentation, go to Insert
and select New Slide. Select the format of the slide that you wish to apply
and click OK.
-
In the lower left hand corner of your screen, you will find
icons indicating the selected view of your presentation.
-
On the far left is the Slide view, which is the default view,
where the slide takes up most of the screen. This view is most useful when
you are composing each individual slide. You can use the scrolling toolbar
on the right hand side to scroll through the slides in your presentation.
-
The second icon is for Outline view. This shows the text
on your slides in an outline form. By pressing the return key, you can
enter new slides, and you can enter text for each of these new slides.
You can cut and paste an outline from a word processing document into the
Outline view as a quick-and-easy way of putting together a presentation.
-
The third icon is for Slide Sorter view. This view shows
thumbnail views of each slide in the order that they will appear in your
presentation. This is a good view for being able to visually assess the
slides in your presentation at a glance. You can insert new slides by clicking
the cursor where you want to insert the new slide and by going to Insert
and New Slide. You can duplicate a Slide by clicking on a slide to select
it, and then by going to Insert and Duplicate slide. You can delete slides
by clicking on the slide to select it and then pressing the delete key.
You can also move and rearrange slides by clicking on a slide, dragging
it to where you want it in the order of slides, and releasing it.
-
The fourth icon is the Notes Page view. It shows a smaller
version of each slide with a space below for entering notes for your presentation.
These notes can be printed out for use in your presentation.
-
The fifth icon is the Presentation view. This shows your
presentation as it will appear on a screen or overhead, and fills up the
entire computer screen. You can move from one slide to another with a mouse
click. By clicking on the embossed arrow in the lower left hand corner,
you can bring up a menu which allows you to move to the next slide, the
previous slide, or to go to a specific named slide, as well as other presentation
options which I will discuss later. Press the Escape button to exit the
Presentation view.
Creating, Inserting, and Formatting
Auto Shapes:
-
You can insert and/or draw various lines and shapes. Go to
the toolbar at the bottom of your screen and click where you see the word
Auto Shapes. This will bring up a pull-up menu from which you can select
various shapes.
-
Drawing a line: Go to Auto Shape and Line. Select
the icon for the type of line you want.
-
The diagonal line icon will draw a straight line. Click in
the slide with the cursor where you want to insert the line, drag the mouse
to extend the length and direction of the line, and click again to finish
the line.
-
The single-headed arrow icon will draw an arrow. Click in
the slide with the cursor where you want to insert the arrow, drag the
mouse to extend the length and direction of the arrow, and click again
to finish the arrow.
-
The double-headed arrow icon will draw a double-headed arrow.
-
The curving line icon will draw a curved line. Click to begin
the line, drag to continue the line, and click wherever you want to insert
an anchor point for the curve.
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The closed curved line icon can be used to draw shapes. Click
to begin the shape and click wherever you want to insert an anchor point.
Press the escape key to end the shape.
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The scribble icon can be used to draw with the cursor, very
much like drawing with a pencil or pen. Just click and hold down the mouse
while you draw the scribble with the cursor.
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Drawing a shape: Go to Auto Shape and select Basic
Shapes. Select the shape you want to draw. Position the cursor in your
slide and drag it until the shape is the size and shape that you want.
Release the mouse to end the shape.
-
Formatting color and appearance of a line or shape: To
edit the color or appearance of a drawn line or shape, click on the link
or shape to select it. You will see selection boxes appear on the line
or shape.
-
To format a line or arrow, go to Format and select Colors
and Lines. This will open up a dialog box.
-
Under Line, you can select the color from the pulldown menu.
You can select a color from your color scheme palette, from a samples palette,
or you can go to More Colors to select a custom color.
-
Under Dashed, you can select a style from a pulldown menu
if you wish to have a broken or dashed line.
-
Under Style, you can select the thickness of the line from
a pulldown menu. You can specify a thickness of the line in a dialog box
below.
-
In the Arrow section, you can select a style for the beginning
and end of the arrow, as well as a size for the arrow head.
-
To format a shape, click on the shape to select it, and go
to Format and Auto Shape.
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Under Fill, select the desired color. Selecting
"No Fill" will make the shape transparent.
-
Under Line, you can select the thickness and style of the
line surrounding the shape, or you can specify No Line.
Inserting Clip Art:
-
Go to Insert, Pictures, and select Clip Art. This will open
up the Clip Art box. In Clip Art, select the type of object you want to
insert by clicking on the appropriate tab. You can select Clip Art (graphics),
Pictures (Photographs), Sounds (audio clips), and Videos (video clips or
animations). The dialog box on the left allows you to scroll through and
highlight categories for each type of object, and on the right are displayed
illustrations or descriptions of the objects in this categorie. Click on
the object to select it, and click Insert to insert it into your slide.
-
Once the clip is inserted into your slide, click on the object
to select it. By pointing to any of the corner boxes and dragging this
box, you can reduce or enlarge the size of the object. If you drag any
of the boxes on the sides of the object, you will distort the object. You
can also format the object by going to Format and Object.
-
Under the Size tab, you can enter a specific height and width
for the object. By entering a height and clicking in the width box, you
can automatically scale the dimensions proportionate to one another. In
the Rotation box, you can specify a degree of rotation, if you want to
change the position of the object. In the Scale boxes, you can enlarge
or shrink the object by a certain percentage. If you want to Reset the
object to its original dimensions, click the Reset button.
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Under the Colors and Lines tab, you can specify the fill
color and the color of the line around the object. You cannot change the
fill color of a photograph. If you want to change the color, you must do
so in an image editing program such as Adobe
Photoshop.
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Under the Position tab, you can specify the position of the
object within the slide.
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Under the Picture tab, you can crop an image, change its
color (or, in the case of a photograph, change it into a grayscale image,
black-and-white image, or watermark), or change the brightness or contrast.
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Click OK to save and apply changes.
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You can move an object by clicking on its center with the
cursor and dragging it to where you want it on the screen.
Inserting Photographs:
-
You can insert photographs from a file. Although some recommend
that the photographs you insert have a resolution of 150 dpi (dots-per-inch),
it's preferable to insert jpeg or gif files with a resolution of 72 dpi,
so that if you ever post your presentation to the web, you will not need
to change the resolution of your images.
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Go to Insert and select Picture, From File. Select a file
to insert into your slide. Follow the instructions under item 2 in "Inserting
Clip Art" for formatting tips.
Inserting a Text Box:
-
You can insert a text box into your slide. Go to Insert and
select Text Box. Then click in the slide where you want to insert your
text box, and click and drag with your cursor to draw the text box. Release
the mouse to end drawing the text box.
-
You can change the size and shape of the text box by clicking
and dragging on its selection boxes.
-
Enter text in the box by positioning the cursor within the
box.
-
You can edit the entered text by highlighting it and changing
the font and style in the selection toolbar at the top of the screen, or
by going to Format, Text Box.
Inserting Word Art:
-
Word Art is specially-formatted text. To insert Word Art,
go to Insert, Picture, Word Art.
-
A dialog box will ask you to select a style of the Word Art
text. Click the cursor on the style you want, and click OK.
-
This will open another dialog box, which has a place at the
bottom where you enter the text you want inserted. The toolbars in the
upper part of the box allow you to select a font, style and size. Click
OK to insert.
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The corner selection boxes allow you to make the Word Art
text larger or smaller by dragging the box with your cursor.
-
The side selection boxes will distort the appearance of your
text.
-
Clicking on the yellow selection box and dragging it will
straighten or bend the shape of the words.
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By clicking on the Word Art to select, and by going to Format
and Word Art, you can change the color, position, and size of the Word
Art, just as you can manipulate the color, position, and size of a Clip
Art image.
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You can move the Word Art but holding you cursor in the middle
of the text and dragging it to where you want it on the slide.
Inserting Sound and Video Clips:
Although I will not go into this feature in detail, it
is possible to insert sound and video clips. Go to Insert and Movies and
Sounds. You can either insert a sound or video from your computer or insert
a sound or video clip from the Clip Gallery.
Keep in mind that the more sound and video clips you include
in your presentation, the greater memory it will occupy on your disk and/or
desktop, and there is a greater risk of a presentation loading too slowly
or crashing. Keep sound and video clips to a minimum.
Hyperlinks:
You may insert hyperlinks to other slides in the presentation.
to web pages on the Internet, and to documents.
-
Highlight the text, picture, or graphic you want to serve
as the link.
-
To link to a web page, type in the full address of the link
in the uppermost box in the dialog box. For example, to create a link to
the Classics site, type in /clas/.
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To link to a document, click on the Select button to select
a file from your desktop or from a zip disk. When you run this presentation,
you must be sure that you have the correct version of the program that
created this file on the hard drive of the presenting computer.
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To link to a specific slide within the presentation, go to
the box marked "Named location in file (optional):" and use the Select
button to select and highlight the title of the slide to which you wish
to link.
-
These links will not work when you are composing the presentation.
They will only work in presentation mode.
-
When giving your presentation, be aware that it may take
some time to link from your PowerPoint presentation to the web or to another
application. It is best to open these programs before starting your presentation
to minimize the link time.
Setting Up Your Presentation:
Setting up the Show:
-
Go to Slide Show, and Set Up Show.
-
Select "Presented by an individual" if you plan to give the
presentation yourself.
-
Specify the numbers of the slides to be included in the presentation
if you are not showing all slides in the presentation.
-
Select whether to advance slides manually or with timer settings.
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If you plan to draw on your slide with an electronic pen
during your presentation, select a pen color.
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Click on OK.
Slide Transition:
-
Go to Slide Show, and Slide Transition.
-
If you want the slides to exhibit a particular type of transition
(checkerboard, dissolve), select it from the pulldown menu. A preview of
the selected transition will appear in the preview window.
-
Select the speed of the transition (slow, medium, fast).
-
Select whether to advance the slides manually or automatically
after a specified number of seconds.
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If you want a sound to be played when there is a transition
from one slide to the next, select a sound from the pulldown menu.
-
Click on Apply to apply to only the slide you have currently
selected. Click on Apply to All to apply to all slides in your presentation.
Hiding a Slide:
If you wish to omit a slide(s) from your presentation,
select a slide in Slide Sorter view, go to Slide Show, and check Hide a
Slide. Uncheck this if you want the slide to appear.
Animation and Sounds:
You can add animation and sounds to your presentation.
Keep in mind when inserting sounds whether or not the room in which you're
presenting has an audio system capable of playing audio from a laptop computer.
-
Select the slide in Slide View where you want to insert the
animation/sound.
-
Click on the element you wish to animate and go to Slide
Show and Preset Animation. Select the animation from the list.
-
If you wish to customize animation, or specify animation
of different elements of the slide in a certain order, go to Slide Show
and Custom Animation.
-
The Custom Animation window has a box on the left which lists
the elements selected for Animation and the order in which they will occur.
On the right is a screen showing the slide and the elements to be animated.
Below are tabs specifying features and timing of the animation.
-
Go first to the Timing tab. Under this tab you can specify
in which order you want the elements on the slide to appear, and whether
or not you wish to animate these elements. At the bottom of the screen
is a box listing the 'Slide Objects Without Animation.' If you wish to
animate these, highlight them, and then in the box on the right hand side,
check the animation button. Also select whether you want the object to
appear on mouse click or automatically after a certain number of seconds.
The objects you've selected to animate appear listed
in the box in the upper left hand screen in the order in which they will
appear during the presentation. You can rearrange the order of animation
by highlighting an object in the list to select it, and
then use the arrow keys to move it within the list.
-
For each element indicated by the selection boxes, go to
the tab marked Effects.
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Select an animation from the pulldown menu.
-
Select a sound (if desired) from the pulldown menu.
-
Specify what will happen to the object after animation. Ordinarily
the object will dim. You may select Don't Dim from the pulldown menu, or
you can specify the color you want the object to change to (much like hyperlinked
text).
-
Specify from the pulldown menu whether you want the animation
to appear all at once, letter by letter, or word by word. When you have
a bulleted or numbered list, you can introduce the text grouped by 1st,
2nd, or 3rd level "paragraphs."
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You may also select to animate an inserted shape.
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You can also animate the elements in reverse order.
-
You can use the Chart Effects tab to animate a chart or bar
graph. These tools are most often used in business presentations for presenting
percentages and financial information - you will probably not need to use
this feature in your presentations, but charts are more extensively described
in the OIT handout.
Previewing Animations: You can preview the animation
of a particular slide by going to Slide Show and Animation Preview. A thumbnail
preview of the animation will appear in a pop-up box.
Custom Shows:
If you want to present your presentation using only certain
slides, you can set up a custom show. Go to Slide Show and Select Custom
Show. Click on the "New" button to create a new custom show. This will
open up a dialog box. Enter a title for your custom show. Below are two
boxes: the one on the left lists the titles of the slides in your existing
presentation. On the right is a box for placing slides in the custom presentation.
Click on the slides which you wish to include in your custom presentation,
and use the Add button to add it to your custom presentation. Click on
OK to save the custom presentation, and then click on Close to close the
dialog boxes.
Action Buttons: You can insert action buttons into
your slides, which can be clicked on during your presentation to advance
to the next or previous slide, or to return to a particular slide within
your presentation. Action buttons can also be used to play sounds or movies.
Remember that these buttons will only work when you are actually presenting
the show.
-
Go to Slide Show and Action Buttons. You can select from
a pulldown list which type of action you want the button to perform (Previous
Slide, Next Slide, etc.).
-
To insert the action button, place your cursor where you
want the button to appear. Click on your mouse, drag, and release to create
the button.
-
When you create an action button, you will also open a box
called Action Settings. This allows you to adjust the settings of the action
button. The action button can be activated either by a mouse click or a
mouse over (holding the cursor over the button). By default, the action
button is set to mouse click, but you can set it to mouse over by clicking
on the mouse over tab, and selecting the hyperlink to the particular action.
-
You can change the slide to which the action button links.
Go to Slide Show and Action Settings. Selecting either the Mouse Click
or Mouse Over tabs, check "Hyperlink to:" and select the action from a
pulldown menu.
-
The button can run a particular program. Check "Run program"
and select that program from the pulldown menu. In order for this to work,
you must make sure that the same version of this program is installed on
the computer from which you will be making the presentation.
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You can select a sound to play when the action button is
clicked. Check the "Play Sound" box and select a sound from the pulldown
menu.
-
You can format the color, size, and position of the action
button by selecting the button by clicking on it, and then going to Format
and Auto Shape.
Giving the Presentation:
Saving the Show: Always save any changes
to your presentation by going to File and Save. You should always save
a copy of your presentation on a Zip disk.
"Pack and Go": It is best to give your presentation
using the same computer that you used to develop your presentation, in
order to minimize any compatibility problems. This is where a laptop computer
comes in handy. You should also make sure that the computer from which
you are presenting has installed on it all the applications which might
be used in your presentation. For example, if your presentation has a link
to a Microsoft Word document, you must have Microsoft Word installed on
that computer. If you have a hyperlink to a website, you must make sure
that the computer on which you're presenting has web browsing software
as well as a direct internet connection.
Some versions of PowerPoint have a "Pack and Go" command
that allows you to copy your presentation, along with the presenting software
that allows you to view (though not edit) your presentation as well as
any auxiliary programs, onto a floppy disk, Zip disk, or laptop.
The Presentation Environment:
-
Presentation Equipment: In order to give your presentation,
you must have a computer or laptop within the classroom and a projector
that can project the image onto a screen. The room must have a data jack
into which the computer and project may be plugged. Marie Mount 1400 is
already equipped for projection.
If you need a laptop computer and/or project, you can
contact the
College of Arts and Humanities to reserve this equipment. They will
bring this equipment to you, will set it up and advise you on its use,
and will pick it up after you are through.
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Troubleshooting:
-
Unfortunately, even with planning, something can always go
wrong which may make you unable to give the presentation. Always have some
sort of back-up with you, either in the form of handouts or overhead transparencies,
or 35 mm slides.
-
Pay attention to the version of PowerPoint with which you
composed your presentation and the version on the computer you are using
to present it. A more recent version of PowerPoint will usually open presentations
composed in older versions, but you will not be able to open a more recent
version will an older version. You must save your presentation as an older
version of PowerPoint using the Save As command.
-
It is best to copy your presentation onto the desktop or
hard drive of the computer which you are using to give the presentation.
The presentation will load more quickly from the desktop or hard drive
than from a disk, and is less likely to crash.
-
When you compose on one computer and present on another,
you always run the risk of the presentation computer not recognizing the
path to the presentation. Sometimes, if you run into this problem, it can
be fixed by renaming the hard drive on the presentation computer with the
same name of the hard drive of the composing computer.
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If your presentation includes links to the web or to other
applications, make sure that you have these applications and/or browsers
on the presenting computer. You should open up these applications/browsers
beforehand in order to minimize link time.
-
Be aware of the platform you are using to compose and present
the presentations. While Macs will often open and run a presentation composed
on a PC, a PC will not run a program composed on a Mac.
Presenting the Show:
-
You should always preview your show before presenting it.
To give the presentation, go to Slide Show and View Show, or click on the
Slide Show icon at the far right of the toolbar in the lower left hand
side of the screen.
-
If you have selected mouse click as the way of advancing
your slides, just click on your mouse to advance the slides and to bring
up any animated elements.
-
There is an embossed arrow action button in the lower left
hand corner of the screen. By clicking on this button, you can bring up
a pull-up menu:
-
"Next" advances the presention to the next slide.
-
"Previous" moves the presentation back to the previous slide.
-
By using the "Go" command, you can go to any slide in the
presentation by selecting its title from the list. The Go button can also
be used to show a "hidden slide" (one that has been hidden from this particular
version of your presentation) or to show a custom presentation.
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"Meeting Minder" can be used to insert notes on your meeting.
You will probably not need to use this feature.
-
You can use either the cursor arrow or a virtual "pen" to
point to or underline text or objects while you are giving the presentation.
Select either "Pen" or "Arrow" (Arrow is the default).
-
You can select the pen color and draw upon the slide. To
erase the pen, select Screen and Erase pen.
-
You can hide the pointer, under "Pointer Options," by selecting
either "Hide Now" or "Hide Always."
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If you are going to be talking for a long time and do not
want a slide up on the screen during that time, go to Screen and select
Black Screen. To go back to the slide, select Screen and Unblack Screen.
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Select End Show to end your presentation, or simply press
the Escape key.
Printing Out Handouts, Transparencies,
and Notes:
Handouts:
-
Go to View, Master, and Handout Master to see the Handout
template.
-
Go to View, Toolbars, Handout Master to activate the Handout
Master toolbar.
-
From the Handout Master toolbar, select the format you want.
You can print out pages showing 2 slides per page, 3 slides per page with
the note text, or 6 slides a page without notes. The last selection on
the toolbar is to print out just note text.
-
You may enter header and/or footer information in the Handout
Master template you select.
-
Go to File and Print. In the pulldown menu, change from "General"
to "Microsoft PowerPoint." In the next pulldown menu, select the type of
handout you would like to print.
Transparencies: It is possible
to print out your PowerPoint presentation slides as transparencies, although
you need special printing equipment and supplies. The Office of Information
Technology's Visualization and Presentation Lab can print out transparencies
for you, but contact them in advance so that they can lend you a copy of
printer drivers to install on your own computer to help prepare your presentation.
Their number is 405-7325. Once the presentation is prepared, it can be
brought on disk to the Lab to print out.
Notes:
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Go to View, Master, and Notes Master to see the Notes template.
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You can edit the format of the notes in the template.
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Go to File and Print. In the pulldown menu, change from "General"
to "Microsoft PowerPoint." In the next pulldown menu, select Notes Pages
and click on Print.
Putting Your Presentation on the Web:
Luckily, it is possible to put a version of your PowerPoint
presentation on the web. This involves creating a folder containing all
the files (text, images, and graphics) used in your presentation. This
folder can be uploaded to a web server using a File Transfer Protocol program
(FTP) or can be loaded, file by file, into a directory in WebSpinner.
First, you must save your HTML presentation for the Web.
There is a built-in Wizard in PowerPoint which allows you to save a version
to the web:
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Go to File, and Save As HTML.
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This will open up a Wizard which will take you step-by-step
through a number of design choices. Click on Next to move onto the next
choice, and Finish to end. Among the things the Wizard will ask you to
choose are:
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Layout- either standard (no frames) or with frames. Remember
that not all browsers can support frames.
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Graphic type - graphics must be either gifs or jpegs with
a 72-dots-per-inch resolution. Graphics generally work best as gifs, and
photographs as jpegs. Select also the compression quality - how much information
is included in the images.
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Select the sizing of graphics to fit the size of the browsers'
monitor screen. Most monitor screens today are at least 600 x 800, but
to reach the largest audience, design for a 640 x 480 screen.
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Enter your email address, home page URL, or any other contact
information you would like placed on the page.
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Select page colors. You may use the browser's custom colors
(which are all web-safe) or can select your custom colors, keeping in mind
that you may have designed your PowerPoint presentation with some non web-safe
colors. Remember when designing pages for the web, you want to use contrasting
colors for text and background, preferably a white background with dark-colored
text for increased visibility.
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Select an action button style.
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Select where you want the action buttons to be placed within
the screen.
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Select a folder on your desktop or on a Zip disk in which
to place the presentation files. These files will need to be uploaded,
using FTP or WebSpinner, onto the Inform server, and they should be placed
in the same directory.
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Click on Finish.
I have placed a test
presentation on our website which shows what a PowerPoint presentation
can look like when put up on the Web. You may notice that the web-based
presentation looks quite different from the way the presentation looks
during a normal presentation. Using the mouse, you may click on the action
buttons to advance from slide to slide. You may notice that the animations
and sounds are missing. In the most recent versions of PowerPoint, it is
possible to upload the files for the animations and sounds. But again,
you must keep your audience in mind, for not all browsers or machines have
the programs that can read these features.