European Computer Driving
Licence
Module 6 – Presentation
Chapter 6.1 – The Basics
What is Microsoft PowerPoint?
Z Microsoft PowerPoint is the leading graphics
presentation package
Z You can use it to create, design and organise
presentations quickly easily
Planning a presentation
It is important to plan presentations carefully
Z Consider the target audience and plan your slides to suit
them
Z Always begin with a title screen to introduce the project
Z Try to keep bullet points to 4 or 5 per slide
Z Keep each point short and simple
Z Animations, graphics and sound can be added but be
careful not to overload the senses all at once!
Getting started
Z To load Microsoft PowerPoint either:
Z Click Start, then All Programs, then
Z Or double-click the PowerPoint icon on the desktop
The Task pane
On the right of the screen is the Task pane. If you can’t
see this pane:
Z Click View then Task Pane
Z Different menus will be available in the Task pane
depending on the stage of your presentation
Z To view the different menus click the down-arrow at the
top right of the Task pane
Starting a blank presentation
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From the Task pane click Create a new presentation
Click Blank presentation in the New Presentation pane
The Task pane will display Slide Layout options and Placeholders
Click one of the options to change the layout of a slide
PowerPoint has automatically selected the Title Slide Layout
Toolbars
Z You will learn about individual toolbars and buttons as
you build a presentation
Z As in other Microsoft applications such as Word and
Excel, some toolbars will only be available when
performing particular tasks
Hiding and displaying toolbars
Z Hiding and displaying toolbars
is done in the same way as in
Microsoft Word, Excel and
Access
Z To hide or display a toolbar
click View then Toolbars
Z A checkmark against a toolbar
means it is already displayed
Modifying basic options
You can change some basic options Z Select the General tab and you
to customise PowerPoint
can change the user name
listed under the file properties
Z Select Tools then Options
Z Select the Save tab
Using the Help Functions
If you aren’t sure of how to do something in PowerPoint,
search the Help files for instructions on how to perform the
task
Z Select Help then Microsoft Office PowerPoint Help
Z Type in the information you need to look up into the Search
for: box
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Click the Start Searching icon
Using the Help Functions
Z Select one of the search
results from the next popup box
Z A Help window appears giving
information on the topic
Z Click the red Close icon to close the
Help window
Z Click the black Close icon to close
the Task pane
Adding text to the title slide
Z Click in Click to add
title placeholder and
type in the title for the
slide
Z Click in the sub-title
placeholder and type
in a sub-title
Formatting and moving the text
Z You can click the text boxes and drag to move them around the
screen. You can also format the text in each text box just like in
Microsoft Word
Z The Formatting toolbar contains the tools you need
Z To format text, click the text box border. The border will change from
a diagonal striped box to a fuzzy one. Now you can format the text
Z You can format the text to be Bold, Italic or Underlined
Editing text
Z Edit, add or delete text by clicking inside the box. The
border changes to diagonal stripes
Z Edit the text, and use the formatting toolbar if necessary
to make changes
Aligning text in a placeholder
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You can align text to the top,
middle or bottom of the text box
Select the text box and right-click
anywhere on the text
Select Format Placeholder
Select the Text Box tab
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Click the down-arrow of the Text
Anchor Point box and select Top,
Middle or Bottom. Click OK
Resizing and moving text boxes and
placeholders
To resize a text box:
Z Move the cursor over the lefthand handle. The mouse
pointer will change to a doubleheaded arrow
To move a text box:
Z Move the cursor onto the
border of the text box not on a
handle. The mouse pointer will
change to a black cross
Z Click and drag the handle to the
left to make the text box wider.
Drag to the right to make it
smaller
Z Click and drag to the required
position
Changing the presentation view
You can alternate between various views of the
presentation by clicking on the icons at the left-hand side
of the bottom of the screen
Normal View
This is the most useful view
Z You can view the structure of the presentation down the left of
the screen, the current slide you are working on and the
Notes page for the current page
The Outline pane
The Outline pane has two different views
Z One view shows a picture of all the slides
Z The other view just lists the text on each slide
Z Click on the tabs at the top of the Outline pane to switch
between the views
Slide Sorter
Z This view helps you to organise your slides in later stages.
Here is a preview of what it looks like when you have more
slides
Slide Show views
Z Slide Show view is the view you use when you are
actually giving your presentation
Z Exit Slide Show view by pressing the Esc key at any time
Using the Zoom tool
Z In Normal View use the Zoom tool to make a slide
appear larger or smaller on screen
Z Click the black down-arrow to the right of the Zoom box
and click the size you want
Z Or click on existing size entry in the Zoom box to select
it, type in the new size and press Enter key
Undo, Redo and Repeat commands
Undo
Z This will undo your last action. Each subsequent click will
undo further actions
Redo
Z If you undo something you didn’t mean to, click the Redo
button
Repeat
Z If you want to repeat an action, eg. adding a bullet point or
inserting a slide. Select Edit then Repeat
Saving the presentation
Z Select File then Save
Z Use the arrow next to the Save In box to navigate to the
location for saving
Z If necessary, create a new folder by clicking the Create
New Folder icon
Z Type in a name for the folder.
Z Enter a filename for the presentation
Z Click the Save button
Z PowerPoint will automatically save the file as a
Presentation (*ppt) file
Closing the file and application
To close the presentation either:
Z Select File then Close
Z Close PowerPoint by either:
Z Selecting File then Exit
Z Or click