INTRODUCTION OF MICROSOFT POWERPOINT

Part of the Microsoft Office 2013 suite of programs, Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 is a full-featured presentation
program that helps you quickly and efficiently develop dynamic, professional-looking presentations and then
deliver them to an audience.

The main purpose of MS PowerPoint is to enable the user to create dynamic, informational slides through the use of
text, graphics, and animation. Slide presentations created with the software are often displayed on projection screens
for business, training, or educational presentations, although they can be distributed as stand-alone files.

Below are few important things that one must know about the development and introduction of Microsoft PowerPoint:

➢ The program was created in a software company named Forethought, Inc. by Robert Gaskins and Dennis Austin.
➢ It was released on April 20, 1987, and after 3 months of its creation, it was acquired by Microsoft.
➢ The first version of this program, when introduced by Microsoft was MS PowerPoint 2.0 (1990).
➢ It is a presentation-based program that uses graphics, videos, etc. to make a presentation more interactive and
interesting.
➢ The file extension of a saved PowerPoint presentation is “.ppt”.
➢ A PowerPoint presentation comprising slides and other features is also known as PPT.

ELEMENTS OF MICROSOFT POWERPOINT

Control Buttons

Quick Access Ribbon

File Menu and Backstage View

Rule

Scroll Bar
Slide Navigation Pane

Slide Pane

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know-powerpoint/1/

Status Bar
Figure 1. The Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 Environment

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A. File Menu and Backstage View. When you click the File menu, you see the Backstage view that contains all the
creation, save, share, and print options for your presentations

Figure 2. The Backstage View

B. Quick Access Toolbar

Located just above the Ribbon, the Quick Access toolbar lets you access common commands no matter which tab is
selected. By default, it includes the Save, Undo, Repeat, and Start Presentation commands. You can add other
commands depending on your preference.

C. Ribbon
PowerPoint 2013 uses a tabbed Ribbon system instead of traditional menus. The Ribbon contains multiple tabs, each
with several groups of commands. You will use these tabs to perform the most common tasks in PowerPoint.

Figure 3. The Ribbon and its Parts

D. Ruler, guides, and gridlines

PowerPoint includes several tools to help organize and arrange content on your slides, including the Ruler, guides, and
gridlines. These tools make it easier to align objects on your slides. Simply click the check boxes in the Show group on
the View tab to show and hide these tools.

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 Figure 4. The Ruler, Lines and Gridlines

E. Slides Navigation Pane

Located on the left side of the window. The slide navigation pane allows you to view and organize the slides in your
presentation.

F. Slide pane
Located in the center of your window. The Slide pane shows a large view of the slide on which you are currently working.
The Notes area appears below the Slide pane.

G. Notes
The Notes section is a place for the speaker to jot down any hints or references for his presentation. Only the presenter
will see these notes.

H. Status Bar
The Status bar shows current aspects of the presentation, such as the current slide number and what design theme was
used. A tiny Common tools toolbar gives quick access to features that the presenter would use often.

Creating and Preparing for a Presentation

A lot of the work for giving a presentation comes before you deliver it. Developing informative content, creating
clear visual aids, and making sure you are prepared will all make a presentation go more smoothly, even if you are
nervous. This module will explain how you can create an effective presentation.

Rules in creating an Effective Presentation

1. Develop your content

a) Brainstorm ideas.
b) See where you need to fill in information and research your topic.
c) Gather all your info and then organize it. Prepare an outline of how you want to present the information. In the
Structure tab, you can learn what to include and when to include it.
d) Transfer the information to cue cards or a single sheet of paper. You can use these to support you during your
presentation.
e) Remember: You can’t read your presentation off of a script, so don’t write an essay. Instead, use bullet points to
remind you of the next key point.
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 f) Be sure to know the expected length of time for the presentation and plan accordingly. Make sure you have enough
to say.

2. Create your visual aids

a) Identify the critical information that needs to be presented and include it in your presentation.
b) Use no more than six bullet points per slide.
c) Keep bullet points short and to the point. Incomplete sentences are okay.
d) Minimize the number of font types used in your presentation.
e) Keep font sizes consistent.
f) Do not make all the text uppercase.
g) For contrast, use a light-colored font on a dark background and vice versa.
h) Use bold formatting to make appropriate words stand out.
i) Minimize the use of italics. They are more difficult to read.
j) Do not vary the look of one slide greatly from the next. Consistency is key.
k) Identify text that can be represented pictorially and use appropriate graphics in its place.
l) Remove unnecessary graphics that are not relevant to the information presented.
m) Use consistent colors and font size on each slide.
n) Do not use unusually bright colors.
o) Do not clutter the slides with too many graphics.
p) Use graphics and transitions sparingly.

Opening Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 Program

1. Click on the PowerPoint icon in the Taskbar. If you do not see the icon, go to the Start button, right-click, and choose
Search. Type "PowerPoint" in the search field, and when PowerPoint appears, double-click it.

2. PowerPoint will open, prompting you to select a theme. Click on Blank Presentation.

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Closing Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation

Each presentation window must be closed individually. If you only have one file open, you can close it and keep
PowerPoint.

1. Click the File Tab.

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2. Click Close.

Note: If you have not saved the presentation since making changes, a dialog box will appear asking if you want to save
changes to the presentation. Click Save if you wish to save your changes; click Don’t Save if you do not want to save
your changes; click Cancel if you do not want to close the presentation.

The file is closed but PowerPoint is still running. You can still browse for a file to open, create a new presentation, and
access PowerPoint’s options.

Close PowerPoint Program

If you click the Close button on the title bar when you have only one PowerPoint presentation open, the presentation will
close, and you will exit the PowerPoint program.

1. Click the Close button in the title bar.

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 USING TEMPLATES

A template is a predesigned presentation you can use to create a new slide show quickly. Templates often include
custom formatting and designs, so they can save you a lot of time and effort when starting a new project.

TO CREATE A NEW PRESENTATION FROM A TEMPLATE:

1. Click the File tab to access Backstage view.

2. Select New. You can click a suggested search to find templates or use the search bar to find something more specific.
In our example, we'll search for Business presentations.

Figure 1.2. The Templates in Backstage view

3. Select a template to review it.

Figure 1.3. Gallery of templates

4. A preview of the template will appear, along with additional information on how the template can be used.
5. Click Create to use the selected template.

Figure 1.4. Preview of the selected template

6. A new presentation will appear with the selected template.

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 TO CREATE A NEW PRESENTATION:

1. Select the File tab to go to Backstage view.

Figure 1.5. Selecting File tab

2. Select New on the left side of the window, then click Blank Presentation or choose a theme.

Figure 1.6. Selecting Blank Presentation

3. A new presentation will appear.

TO OPEN AN EXISTING PRESENTATION:

1. Select the File tab to go to Backstage view.

2. Select Open.

Figure 1.7. Selecting Open in

Backstage view

3. Select Computer, then click Browse. Alternatively, you can choose OneDrive (previously known as SkyDrive) to open
files stored on your OneDrive.

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 Figure 1.7. Selecting
Open in Backstage
view

4. The Open dialog box will appear. Locate and select your presentation, then click Open.
Figure 1.8. Opening presentation in Open Dialogue Box

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