Setting the Default Text Style
To change the style of the text that appears when you type things that aren't the title or the slide body, do the following:
Choose the first layout option and click in the title box.  From the Format menu, select Font. Make all the changes that you want there, and then check default for new objects.  Next click OK.  From that point on, new text will be created in that font style and size.
 

Changing A Design Template
To change the design template for the title or slide body objects, on the menu select View…Title or Slide Master.  Click the body of the slide then right click the slide and choose Group…Ungroup.  Delete any part of the design you desire.  Then right click and choose Group…Regroup.  When completed choose the slide sorter view mode from the lower left-corner of the screen.
 

Using More than One Guide
If you like using guides, but wish there were more, you can create additional Guides by simply holding down the CTRL key while dragging on an existing Guide. This will create a new guide. To get rid of guides, just drag them off the edge of the slide.
 

Creating Pages with Slides and Descriptive Text
If you want to create printable pages that have notes or descriptive text associated each slide, PowerPoint has a feature designed to do just this called Notes Pages, or Speaker's Notes (depending on which version you're using). To view the Notes page for any slide, go to the View menu and select Notes Pages. You will see an image of your slide there, and a placeholder for adding your script, notes, or any other text you wish. You can cut-and-paste text from Word here if you like. To print these pages, bring up the Print dialog, and at the bottom of the dialog where it says "Print What:", select Notes Pages.  These pages were originally designed to be used as audience hand outs.  To return to the normal view click the Slide View button in the lower right corner. 
 

Building Presentations for Distribution to Others

When making a PowerPoint presentation that will be distributed to other people, there are some important things to watch out for that will cause problems:

1. Stick with the fonts that come installed with Windows; Fancy fonts that appear on your machine will cause problems if everyone else doesn't have them.

2. Avoid embedding sounds and videos: these will not go from Mac to Windows gracefully, and you have to be very careful about how you insert the files in order to get them to "travel" properly. See the FAQ section for more information on this.

3. Design the presentation on the lowest version that you think might be in use. For example, if you want the presentation to be able to be viewed by Mac users (who may not have upgraded to the latest version), you will want to design your presentation in PowerPoint 4.0. If you don't have PowerPoint 4, then you'll want to save your presentation in the lowest format you think people will have. For cross-platform distribution, 4.0 is still your safest bet; for Windows-only distribution, save to PowerPoint 95. When you down-rev save, be prepared for some visual changes in your file--the previous version may not support some of the features you've put in, so be sure to sanity check your file on several different machines and versions BEFORE you distribute it! 
 

Easily Changing from Caps to Lower Case (or Vice Versa)
If you have text that is in the wrong case, select the text, and then click Shift+F3 until it changes to the case style that you like. Clicking Shift+F3 toggles the text case between ALL CAPS, lower case, and Initial Capital styles. This useful trick works with Word too!
 

Nudging Objects
You can use the arrow keys to move objects very small distances. This is a big win for those laptop users who no longer have mice. Select the object, then use your arrow keys. Each press of the key will move the object on "grid unit" (1/12th of an inch, don't ask why); if you hold down the Ctrl key while nudging, or if you have the grid turned off, you can move the objects one pixel at a time.
 

Saving Across Multiple Diskettes
Since PowerPoint 7.0 (the one in Office 95, also known as PowerPoint '95) you have the option to save large files over multiple diskettes. From the File menu, select Pack and Go. This wizard will compress your PowerPoint presentation and copy the file onto as many floppies as are necessary.
 

Draw A Line Perfectly Horizontal or Vertical
Depress the Shift key while dragging to create your line.
 

Draw A Perfect Square
Depress the Shift key while dragging to create your square.
 

Draw A Perfect Circle
Depress the Shift key while dragging to create your circle.
 

Quickly Access the Slide Master
Click on the Slide View icon (at the top-left of the screen), while depressing the Shift key.
 

Create A New Design Template
Click on the File drop down menu, select New and then select the Design Template tab. Select an existing design template that most closely matches what you wish to achieve. Make changes to the slide master as required. Then save the file as a template using the SaveAs command to save the file as a dot file.
 

Preview A Presentation in Black and White  
Click on View…Black and White.
 

Send to the Back or Bring Forward an Object
Right click on the object, select order, and choose the desired command.
 

Insert the Copyright Symbol 
To insert the copyright © symbol, enter (c) 
To insert the Trademark ™ symbol enter (tm) 
To insert the registered ® symbol enter (r)
 

Saving Shows
Save your presentation as a ‘PowerPoint Show’ (.pps) and your presentation will open straight into screenshow mode.   To change a .pps back to a presentation for editing, locate the file name, right click the file name, choose rename, and change the .pps extension to .ppt.  A warning about instability will appear, but no harm will be done to the presentation.
 

Jumping to Screens  
In show mode type a number then hit ‘enter’ to go to straight to that screen i.e. ’1’ to go back to the 1st screen. This is particularly useful if you have a large show for multiple speakers - just make a note of the slide number where each one starts - and during rehearsal, simply keying the number and pressing enter, jumps you straight to the right place. Quick and efficient.
 

Hiding Screens
In the show mode you can hide your first (or any other) screen until you are ready to start by pressing ‘B’’ to blackout the screen or (‘W’ to ‘whiteout’ the screen) then press the ‘B’ or ‘W’ again to reveal the screen when you are ready.
 

To Go to the First Slide or Last Slide
Ctrl+Home will take you to the first slide in a presentation, Ctrl+End will take you to the last slide.
 

Toolbar Tips
You can customize your toolbar to contain buttons for tasks that you routinely conduct. Click View…Toolbars…Customize. Click the Commands Tab and choose the desired task. Click and drag the accompanying icon to your preferred location in the toolbar. Close the customize window.
 

Setting up the Show
To set up the presentation to run continuously, click Slide Show…Set Up Show. Check ‘loop continuously until ESC’ and click OK.

To set up the presentation with timed settings on each slide, click Slide Show…Rehearse Timings. As each slide appears a rehearsal clock will appear in the upper left corner. When the desired time has expired click the mouse to progress to the next slide. After viewing the entire show you will be asked if you wish to save the rehearsed time. Click Yes.

To record your own narration for the presentation click Slide Show…Record Narration.
 

Printing the Presentation
You have many options for printing your presentation.  Click File…Print.  You can choose to print it as slides or handouts and choose how many will fit on a page, print it as a Notes Page, or print it in the outline view.  Other options include to print it in Grayscale, Pure Black and White, or with Animations.  You can also choose to print only specific slide numbers or print all slides.
 

Keyboard Shortcuts

Downloads for PowerPoint

Download PowerPoint Templates