How to create presentation slides up to 5 times faster
Ever struggled to create powerful slides for your presentations? Don’t worry, we've all been there! That’s why we've put together a few tips to help you worry less and deliver more.
PowerPoint is the most popular presentation software worldwide, used everywhere from corporate board rooms to university classrooms, so what better than to maximize its potential? After all, there are plenty of time-saving features that can help you make slides up to five times faster, helping you out with your tight schedule.
1. Use PowerPoint Designer
Not sure how to arrange your content? Create stunning slides in seconds with PowerPoint Designer. First, make sure you’ve got the right version of Office and that it’s turned on in Settings . Pickit works seamlessly with Designer and in just a couple of clicks you can create amazing layouts. Insert an image and choose from the selection of suggested design ideas. Simple as that.
2. Use large enough font sizes
Pay attention to your choice of font. When creating a presentation, have in mind both the font size and the font type. Try to use no more than two different fonts in your presentation, and make sure they flow well with each other and don't clash or distract.
- Font size Why is it so important when creating a presentation? The font needs to be large enough to read from across the room. The size most commonly used for text body is 28+, a font less than 24-point is used when adding explanatory text, where you could use a 20-point font size. Use at least 30+ size for headlines to be sure they're easy to read.
- Font type Choose a font that’s easy to read, ex: Myriad Pro, Lucida Console, Tahoma, Helvetica, Calibri, Gil Sans, Futura, Century Gothic. For example, Gil Sans works well for headings and Tahoma for the text.
3. Less is more, so keep it simple
Use an unexpected photo or clipart image that catches people off guard. Or why not try a few unpredictable ingredients that can help keep people’s attention and make your PowerPoint more dynamic and engaging?
- Include only one idea or message per slide
- Stick to three to five bullets at a time
- Use no more than five elements per slide
" 91% of people feel that a well-designed slide deck would make them feel more confident when giving a presentation."
4. Use engaging images for impact
Want to quickly improve a tired slide deck? Make your images larger and reduce the quantity of text. Images should be chosen carefully to reinforce your message. We know our brain can process images up to 60,000 times faster than text, and using a large image gets your point across quickly, without being a distraction. And a shortlist of brief bullets will help your audience follow your argument.
See more: Why even "non-creative" people need to use quality presentation images
5. Try the 10/20/30 rule
There's no universal laws when it comes to slide count and time, but many people agree that Guy Kawasaki's 10/20/30 rule is a good benchmark. The rule suggests that PowerPoint presentations should ideally have 10 slides, last no more than 20 minutes, and contain no font smaller than 30-point. For an engaging and meaningful session try the following:
- 10 slides According to Guy, this the optimal number of slides in a PowerPoint presentation because a normal human being can't be expected to comprehend more than 10 concepts in a short meeting. Sometimes you might need a few extra slides, but don't go adding them unless you need to. There's no need to use filler slides if they don't add value to your presentation.
- 20 minutes On average, spend around 2 minutes per slide. Make sure you're aware of your time slot. Even if the setup goes perfectly, people will arrive late and have to leave early. In a perfect world, you should be able to give your pitch within 20 minutes, and have 10-20 minutes left for questions and discussion. This way you'll make sure that you're fully engaging with your audience.
- 30 font size Surprises in headlines work because the human brain is stimulated by the unexpected. These prove to be far more stimulating and grab our attention much quicker than things we know well.
Go ahead! Check it out and let us know what works best for you. Is the 10/20/30 rule the magic ingredient that will save the day for you? Or is it the images found in our award-winning app for PowerPoint?
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Create a presentation
Create a presentation in PowerPoint
Create presentations from scratch or start with a professionally designed, fully customizable template from Microsoft Create .
Open PowerPoint.
In the left pane, select New .
Select an option:
To create a presentation from scratch, select Blank Presentation .
To use a prepared design, select one of the templates.
To see tips for using PowerPoint, select Take a Tour , and then select Create , .
Add a slide
In the thumbnails on the left pane, select the slide you want your new slide to follow.
In the Home tab, in the Slides section, select New Slide .
In the Slides section, select Layout , and then select the layout you want from the menu.
Add and format text
Place the cursor inside a text box, and then type something.
Select the text, and then select one or more options from the Font section of the Home tab, such as Font , Increase Font Size , Decrease Font Size , Bold , Italic , Underline , etc.
To create bulleted or numbered lists, select the text, and then select Bullets or Numbering .
Add a picture, shape, and more
Go to the Insert tab.
To add a picture:
In the Images section, select Pictures .
In the Insert Picture From menu, select the source you want.
Browse for the picture you want, select it, and then select Insert .
To add illustrations:
In the Illustrations section, select Shapes , Icons , 3D Models , SmartArt , or Chart .
In the dialog box that opens when you click one of the illustration types, select the item you want and follow the prompts to insert it.
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How-To Geek
8 tips to make the best powerpoint presentations.
Want to make your PowerPoint presentations really shine? Here's how to impress and engage your audience.
Quick Links
Table of contents, start with a goal, less is more, consider your typeface, make bullet points count, limit the use of transitions, skip text where possible, think in color, take a look from the top down, bonus: start with templates.
Slideshows are an intuitive way to share complex ideas with an audience, although they're dull and frustrating when poorly executed. Here are some tips to make your Microsoft PowerPoint presentations sing while avoiding common pitfalls.
It all starts with identifying what we're trying to achieve with the presentation. Is it informative, a showcase of data in an easy-to-understand medium? Or is it more of a pitch, something meant to persuade and convince an audience and lead them to a particular outcome?
It's here where the majority of these presentations go wrong with the inability to identify the talking points that best support our goal. Always start with a goal in mind: to entertain, to inform, or to share data in a way that's easy to understand. Use facts, figures, and images to support your conclusion while keeping structure in mind (Where are we now and where are we going?).
I've found that it's helpful to start with the ending. Once I know how to end a presentation, I know how best to get to that point. I start by identifying the takeaway---that one nugget that I want to implant before thanking everyone for their time---and I work in reverse to figure out how best to get there.
Your mileage, of course, may vary. But it's always going to be a good idea to put in the time in the beginning stages so that you aren't reworking large portions of the presentation later. And that starts with a defined goal.
A slideshow isn't supposed to include everything. It's an introduction to a topic, one that we can elaborate on with speech. Anything unnecessary is a distraction. It makes the presentation less visually appealing and less interesting, and it makes you look bad as a presenter.
This goes for text as well as images. There's nothing worse, in fact, than a series of slides where the presenter just reads them as they appear. Your audience is capable of reading, and chances are they'll be done with the slide, and browsing Reddit, long before you finish. Avoid putting the literal text on the screen, and your audience will thank you.
Related: How to Burn Your PowerPoint to DVD
Right off the bat, we're just going to come out and say that Papyrus and Comic Sans should be banned from all PowerPoint presentations, permanently. Beyond that, it's worth considering the typeface you're using and what it's saying about you, the presenter, and the presentation itself.
Consider choosing readability over aesthetics, and avoid fancy fonts that could prove to be more of a distraction than anything else. A good presentation needs two fonts: a serif and sans-serif. Use one for the headlines and one for body text, lists, and the like. Keep it simple. Veranda, Helvetica, Arial, and even Times New Roman are safe choices. Stick with the classics and it's hard to botch this one too badly.
There reaches a point where bullet points become less of a visual aid and more of a visual examination.
Bullet points should support the speaker, not overwhelm his audience. The best slides have little or no text at all, in fact. As a presenter, it's our job to talk through complex issues, but that doesn't mean that we need to highlight every talking point.
Instead, think about how you can break up large lists into three or four bullet points. Carefully consider whether you need to use more bullet points, or if you can combine multiple topics into a single point instead. And if you can't, remember that there's no one limiting the number of slides you can have in a presentation. It's always possible to break a list of 12 points down into three pages of four points each.
Animation, when used correctly, is a good idea. It breaks up slow-moving parts of a presentation and adds action to elements that require it. But it should be used judiciously.
Adding a transition that wipes left to right between every slide or that animates each bullet point in a list, for example, starts to grow taxing on those forced to endure the presentation. Viewers get bored quickly, and animations that are meant to highlight specific elements quickly become taxing.
That's not to say that you can't use animations and transitions, just that you need to pick your spots. Aim for no more than a handful of these transitions for each presentation. And use them in spots where they'll add to the demonstration, not detract from it.
Sometimes images tell a better story than text can. And as a presenter, your goal is to describe points in detail without making users do a lot of reading. In these cases, a well-designed visual, like a chart, might better convey the information you're trying to share.
The right image adds visual appeal and serves to break up longer, text-heavy sections of the presentation---but only if you're using the right images. A single high-quality image can make all the difference between a success and a dud when you're driving a specific point home.
When considering text, don't think solely in terms of bullet points and paragraphs. Tables, for example, are often unnecessary. Ask yourself whether you could present the same data in a bar or line chart instead.
Color is interesting. It evokes certain feelings and adds visual appeal to your presentation as a whole. Studies show that color also improves interest, comprehension, and retention. It should be a careful consideration, not an afterthought.
You don't have to be a graphic designer to use color well in a presentation. What I do is look for palettes I like, and then find ways to use them in the presentation. There are a number of tools for this, like Adobe Color , Coolors , and ColorHunt , just to name a few. After finding a palette you enjoy, consider how it works with the presentation you're about to give. Pastels, for example, evoke feelings of freedom and light, so they probably aren't the best choice when you're presenting quarterly earnings that missed the mark.
It's also worth mentioning that you don't need to use every color in the palette. Often, you can get by with just two or three, though you should really think through how they all work together and how readable they'll be when layered. A simple rule of thumb here is that contrast is your friend. Dark colors work well on light backgrounds, and light colors work best on dark backgrounds.
Spend some time in the Slide Sorter before you finish your presentation. By clicking the four squares at the bottom left of the presentation, you can take a look at multiple slides at once and consider how each works together. Alternatively, you can click "View" on the ribbon and select "Slide Sorter."
Are you presenting too much text at once? Move an image in. Could a series of slides benefit from a chart or summary before you move on to another point?
It's here that we have the opportunity to view the presentation from beyond the single-slide viewpoint and think in terms of how each slide fits, or if it fits at all. From this view, you can rearrange slides, add additional ones, or delete them entirely if you find that they don't advance the presentation.
The difference between a good presentation and a bad one is really all about preparation and execution. Those that respect the process and plan carefully---not only the presentation as a whole, but each slide within it---are the ones who will succeed.
This brings me to my last (half) point: When in doubt, just buy a template and use it. You can find these all over the web, though Creative Market and GraphicRiver are probably the two most popular marketplaces for this kind of thing. Not all of us are blessed with the skills needed to design and deliver an effective presentation. And while a pre-made PowerPoint template isn't going to make you a better presenter, it will ease the anxiety of creating a visually appealing slide deck.
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6 Simple Parts for Beginners to Create a PowerPoint Presentation
Last Updated: December 19, 2022 Fact Checked
Creating a New PowerPoint
Creating the title slide, adding a new slide, adding content to slides, adding transitions, testing and saving your presentation.
This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Darlene Antonelli, MA . Darlene Antonelli is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Darlene has experience teaching college courses, writing technology-related articles, and working hands-on in the technology field. She earned an MA in Writing from Rowan University in 2012 and wrote her thesis on online communities and the personalities curated in such communities. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 4,308,931 times. Learn more...
Do you want to have your data in a slide show? If you have Microsoft 365, you can use PowerPoint! PowerPoint is a program that's part of the Microsoft Office suite (which you have to pay for) and is available for both Windows and Mac computers. This wikiHow teaches you how to create your own Microsoft PowerPoint presentation on a computer.
Things You Should Know
- Templates make it easy to create vibrant presentations no matter your skill level.
- When adding photos, you can adjust their sizes by clicking and dragging in or out from their corners.
- You can add animated transitions between slides or to individual elements like bullet points and blocks of text.
- If you don't have a Microsoft Office 365 subscription, you can use the website instead of the desktop app. Go to https://powerpoint.office.com/ to use the website version.
- You can also use the mobile app to make presentations, though it's easier to do this on a computer, which has a larger screen, a mouse, and a keyboard.
- If you don't want to use a template, just click the Blank option in the upper-left side of the page and skip to the next part.
- Skip this step if your selected template has no themes available.
- If you're creating a PowerPoint presentation for which an elaborate title slide has been requested, ignore this step.
- You can change the font and size of text used from the Home tab that's in the orange ribbon at the top of the window.
- You can also just leave this box blank if you like.
- You can also click and drag in or out one of a text box's corners to shrink or enlarge the text box.
- On a Mac, you'll click the Home tab instead. [1] X Research source
- Clicking the white slide-shaped box above this option will result in a new text slide being inserted.
- Title Slide
- Title and Content
- Section Header
- Two Content
- Content with Caption
- Picture with Caption
- Naturally, the title slide should be the first slide in your presentation, meaning that it should be the top slide in the left-hand column.
- Skip this step and the next two steps if your selected slide uses a template that doesn't have text boxes in it.
- Text boxes in PowerPoint will automatically format the bulk of your text for you (e.g., adding bullet points) based on the context of the content itself.
- You can add notes that the Presentation will not include (but you'll still be able to see them on your screen) by clicking Notes at the bottom of the slide.
- You can change the font of the selected text by clicking the current font's name and then clicking your preferred font.
- If you want to change the size of the text, click the numbered drop-down box and then click a larger or smaller number based on whether you want to enlarge or shrink the text.
- You can also change the color, bolding, italicization, underlining, and so on from here.
- Photos in particular can be enlarged or shrunk by clicking and dragging out or in one of their corners.
- Remember to keep slides uncluttered and relatively free of distractions. It's best to keep the amount of text per slide to around 33 words or less. [2] X Research source
- Slide content will animate in the order in which you assign transitions. For example, if you animate a photo on the slide and then animate the title, the photo will appear before the title.
- Make your slideshow progress automatically by setting the speed of every transition to align with your speech as well as setting each slide to Advance . [3] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source
- If you need to exit the presentation, press Esc .
- Windows - Click File , click Save , double-click This PC , select a save location, enter a name for your presentation, and click Save .
- Mac - Click File , click Save As... , enter the presentation's name in the "Save As" field, select a save location by clicking the "Where" box and clicking a folder, and click Save .
Community Q&A
- If you save your PowerPoint presentation in .pps format instead of the default .ppt format, double-clicking your PowerPoint presentation file will prompt the presentation to open directly into the slideshow view. Thanks Helpful 5 Not Helpful 0
- If you don't have Microsoft Office, you can still use Apple's Keynote program or Google Slides to create a PowerPoint presentation. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
- Your PowerPoint presentation (or some features in it) may not open in significantly older versions of PowerPoint. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 1
- Great PowerPoint presentations avoid placing too much text on one slide. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
You Might Also Like
- ↑ https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=DBDCE00C929AA5D8!252&ithint=file%2cpptx&app=PowerPoint&authkey=!AH4O9NxcbehqzIg
- ↑ https://www.virtualsalt.com/powerpoint.htm
- ↑ https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/set-the-timing-and-speed-of-a-transition-c3c3c66f-4cca-4821-b8b9-7de0f3f6ead1#:~:text=To%20make%20the%20slide%20advance,effect%20on%20the%20slide%20finishes .
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How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation (Step-by-Step)
- PowerPoint Tutorials
- Presentation Design
- January 22, 2024
In this beginner’s guide, you will learn step-by-step how to make a PowerPoint presentation from scratch.
While PowerPoint is designed to be intuitive and accessible, it can be overwhelming if you’ve never gotten any training on it before. As you progress through this guide, you’ll will learn how to move from blank slides to PowerPoint slides that look like these.
Table of Contents
Additionally, as you create your presentation, you’ll also learn tricks for working more efficiently in PowerPoint, including how to:
- Change the slide order
- Reset your layout
- Change the slide dimensions
- Use PowerPoint Designer
- Format text
- Format objects
- Play a presentation (slide show)
With this knowledge under your belt, you’ll be ready to start creating PowerPoint presentations. Moreover, you’ll have taken your skills from beginner to proficient in no time at all. I will also include links to more advanced PowerPoint topics.
Ready to start learning how to make a PowerPoint presentation?
Take your PPT skills to the next level
Start with a blank presentation.
Note: Before you open PowerPoint and start creating your presentation, make sure you’ve collected your thoughts. If you’re going to make your slides compelling, you need to spend some time brainstorming.
For help with this, see our article with tips for nailing your business presentation here .
The first thing you’ll need to do is to open PowerPoint. When you do, you are shown the Start Menu , with the Home tab open.
This is where you can choose either a blank theme (1) or a pre-built theme (2). You can also choose to open an existing presentation (3).
For now, go ahead and click on the Blank Presentation (1) thumbnail.
Doing so launches a brand new and blank presentation for you to work with. Before you start adding content to your presentation, let’s first familiarize ourselves with the PowerPoint interface.
The PowerPoint interface
Here is how the program is laid out:
- The Application Header
- The Ribbon (including the Ribbon tabs)
- The Quick Access Toolbar (either above or below the Ribbon)
- The Slides Pane (slide thumbnails)
The Slide Area
The notes pane.
- The Status Bar (including the View Buttons)
Each one of these areas has options for viewing certain parts of the PowerPoint environment and formatting your presentation.
Below are the important things to know about certain elements of the PowerPoint interface.
The PowerPoint Ribbon
The Ribbon is contextual. That means that it will adapt to what you’re doing in the program.
For example, the Font, Paragraph and Drawing options are greyed out until you select something that has text in it, as in the example below (A).
Furthermore, if you start manipulating certain objects, the Ribbon will display additional tabs, as seen above (B), with more commands and features to help you work with those objects. The following objects have their own additional tabs in the Ribbon which are hidden until you select them:
- Online Pictures
- Screenshots
- Screen Recording
The Slides Pane
This is where you can preview and rearrange all the slides in your presentation.
Right-clicking on a slide in the pane gives you additional options on the slide level that you won’t find on the Ribbon, such as Duplicate Slide , Delete Slide , and Hide Slide .
In addition, you can add sections to your presentation by right-clicking anywhere in this Pane and selecting Add Section . Sections are extremely helpful in large presentations, as they allow you to organize your slides into chunks that you can then rearrange, print or display differently from other slides.
The Slide Area (A) is where you will build out your slides. Anything within the bounds of this area will be visible when you present or print your presentation.
Anything outside of this area (B) will be hidden from view. This means that you can place things here, such as instructions for each slide, without worrying about them being shown to your audience.
The Notes Pane is the space beneath the Slide Area where you can type in the speaker notes for each slide. It’s designed as a fast way to add and edit your slides’ talking points.
To expand your knowledge and learn more about adding, printing, and exporting your PowerPoint speaker notes, read our guide here .
Your speaker notes are visible when you print your slides using the Notes Pages option and when you use the Presenter View . To expand your knowledge and learn the ins and outs of using the Presenter View , read our guide here .
You can resize the Notes Pane by clicking on its edge and dragging it up or down (A). You can also minimize or reopen it by clicking on the Notes button in the Status Bar (B).
Note: Not all text formatting displays in the Notes Pane, even though it will show up when printing your speaker notes. To learn more about printing PowerPoint with notes, read our guide here .
Now that you have a basic grasp of the PowerPoint interface at your disposal, it’s time to make your presentation.
Adding Content to Your PowerPoint Presentation
Notice that in the Slide Area , there are two rectangles with dotted outlines. These are called Placeholders and they’re set on the template in the Slide Master View .
To expand your knowledge and learn how to create a PowerPoint template of your own (which is no small task), read our guide here .
As the prompt text suggests, you can click into each placeholder and start typing text. These types of placeholder prompts are customizable too. That means that if you are using a company template, it might say something different, but the functionality is the same.
Note: For the purposes of this example, I will create a presentation based on the content in the Starbucks 2018 Global Social Impact Report, which is available to the public on their website.
If you type in more text than there is room for, PowerPoint will automatically reduce its font size. You can stop this behavior by clicking on the Autofit Options icon to the left of the placeholder and selecting Stop Fitting Text to this Placeholder .
Next, you can make formatting adjustments to your text by selecting the commands in the Font area and the Paragraph area of the Home tab of the Ribbon.
The Reset Command: If you make any changes to your title and decide you want to go back to how it was originally, you can use the Reset button up in the Home tab .
Insert More Slides into Your Presentation
Now that you have your title slide filled in, it’s time to add more slides. To do that, simply go up to the Home tab and click on New Slide . This inserts a new slide in your presentation right after the one you were on.
You can alternatively hit Ctrl+M on your keyboard to insert a new blank slide in PowerPoint. To learn more about this shortcut, see my guide on using Ctrl+M in PowerPoint .
Instead of clicking the New Slide command, you can also open the New Slide dropdown to see all the slide layouts in your PowerPoint template. Depending on who created your template, your layouts in this dropdown can be radically different.
If you insert a layout and later want to change it to a different layout, you can use the Layout dropdown instead of the New Slide dropdown.
After inserting a few different slide layouts, your presentation might look like the following picture. Don’t worry that it looks blank, next we will start adding content to your presentation.
If you want to follow along exactly with me, your five slides should be as follows:
- Title Slide
- Title and Content
- Section Header
- Two Content
- Picture with Caption
Adding Content to Your Slides
Now let’s go into each slide and start adding our content. You’ll notice some new types of placeholders.
On slide 2 we have a Content Placeholder , which allows you to add any kind of content. That includes:
- A SmartArt graphic,
- A 3D object,
- A picture from the web,
- Or an icon.
To insert text, simply type it in or hit Ctrl+C to Copy and Ctrl+V to Paste from elsewhere. To insert any of the other objects, click on the appropriate icon and follow the steps to insert it.
For my example, I’ll simply type in some text as you can see in the picture below.
Slides 3 and 4 only have text placeholders, so I’ll go ahead and add in my text into each one.
On slide 5 we have a Picture Placeholder . That means that the only elements that can go into it are:
- A picture from the web
To insert a picture into the picture placeholder, simply:
- Click on the Picture icon
- Find a picture on your computer and select it
- Click on Insert
Alternatively, if you already have a picture open somewhere else, you can select the placeholder and paste in (shortcut: Ctrl+V ) the picture. You can also drag the picture in from a file explorer window.
If you do not like the background of the picture you inserted onto your slide, you can remove the background here in PowerPoint. To see how to do this, read my guide here .
Placeholders aren’t the only way to add content to your slides. At any point, you can use the Insert tab to add elements to your slides.
You can use either the Title Only or the Blank slide layout to create slides for content that’s different. For example, a three-layout content slide, or a single picture divider slide, as shown below.
In the first example above, I’ve inserted 6 text boxes, 3 icons, and 3 circles to create this layout. In the second example, I’ve inserted a full-sized picture and then 2 shapes and 2 text boxes.
The Reset Command: Because these slides are built with shapes and text boxes (and not placeholders), hitting the Reset button up in the Home tab won’t do anything.
That is a good thing if you don’t want your layouts to adjust. However, it does mean that it falls on you to make sure everything is aligned and positioned correctly.
For more on how to add and manipulate the different objects in PowerPoint, check out our step-by-step articles here:
- Using graphics in PowerPoint
- Inserting icons onto slides
- Adding pictures to your PowerPoint
- How to embed a video in PowerPoint
- How to add music to your presentation
Using Designer to generate more layouts ideas
If you have Office 365, your version of PowerPoint comes with a new feature called Designer (or Design Ideas). This is a feature that generates slide layout ideas for you. The coolest thing about this feature is that it uses the content you already have.
To use Designer , simply navigate to the Design tab in your Ribbon, and click on Design Ideas .
NOTE: If the PowerPoint Designer is not working for you (it is grey out), see my troubleshooting guide for Designer .
Change the Overall Design (optional)
When you make a PowerPoint presentation, you’ll want to think about the overall design. Now that you have some content in your presentation, you can use the Design tab to change the look and feel of your slides.
For additional help thinking through the design of your presentation, read my guide here .
A. Picking your PowerPoint slide size
If you have PowerPoint 2013 or later, when you create a blank document in PowerPoint, you automatically start with a widescreen layout with a 16:9 ratio. These dimensions are suitable for most presentations as they match the screens of most computers and projectors.
However, you do have the option to change the dimensions.
For example, your presentation might not be presented, but instead converted into a PDF or printed and distributed. In that case, you can easily switch to the standard dimensions with a 4:3 ratio by selecting from the dropdown (A).
You can also choose a custom slide size or change the slide orientation from landscape to portrait in the Custom Slide Size dialog box (B).
To learn all about the different PowerPoint slide sizes, and some of the issues you will face when changing the slide size of a non-blank presentation, read my guide here .
B. Selecting a PowerPoint theme
The next thing you can do is change the theme of your presentation to a pre-built one. For a detailed explanation of what a PowerPoint theme is, and how to best use it, read my article here .
In the beginning of this tutorial, we started with a blank presentation, which uses the default Office theme as you can see in the picture below.
That gives you the most flexibility because it has a blank background and quite simple layouts that work for most presentations. However, it also means that it’s your responsibility to enhance the design.
If you’re comfortable with this, you can stay with the default theme or create your own custom theme ( read my guide here ). But if you would rather not have to think about design, then you can choose a pre-designed theme.
Microsoft provides 46 other pre-built themes, which include slide layouts, color variants and palettes, and fonts. Each one varies quite significantly, so make sure you look through them carefully.
To select a different theme, go to the Design tab in the Ribbon, and click on the dropdown arrow in the Themes section .
For this tutorial, let’s select the Frame theme and then choose the third Variant in the theme. Doing so changes the layout, colors, and fonts of your presentation.
Note: The theme dropdown area is also where you can import or save custom themes. To see my favorite places to find professional PowerPoint templates and themes (and recommendations for why I like them), read my guide here .
C. How to change a slide background in PowerPoint
The next thing to decide is how you want your background to look for the entire presentation. In the Variants area, you can see four background options.
For this example, we want our presentation to have a dark background, so let’s select Style 3. When you do so, you’ll notice that:
- The background color automatically changes across all slides
- The color of the text on most of the slides automatically changes to white so that it’s visible on the dark background
- The colors of the objects on slides #6 and #7 also adjust, in a way we may not want (we’ll likely have to make some manual adjustments to these slides)
Note: If you want to change the slide background for just that one slide, don’t left-click the style. Instead, right-click it and select Apply to Selected Slides .
After you change the background for your entire presentation, you can easily adjust the background for an individual slide.
Inside the Format Background pane, you can see you have the following options:
- Gradient fill
- Picture or texture fill
- Pattern fill
- Hide background
You can explore these options to find the PowerPoint background that best fits your presentation.
D. How to change your color palette in PowerPoint
Another thing you may want to adjust in your presentation, is the color scheme. In the picture below you can see the Theme Colors we are currently using for this presentation.
Each PowerPoint theme comes with its own color palette. By default, the Office theme includes the Office color palette. This affects the colors you are presented with when you format any element within your presentation (text, shapes, SmartArt, etc.).
The good news is that the colors here are easy to change. To switch color palettes, simply:
- Go to the Design tab in the Ribbon
- In the Variants area, click on the dropdown arrow and select Colors
- Select the color palette (or theme colors) you want
You can choose among the pre-built color palettes from Office, or you can customize them to create your own.
As you build your presentation, make sure you use the colors from your theme to format objects. That way, changing the color palette adjusts all the colors in your presentation automatically.
E. How to change your fonts in PowerPoint
Just as we changed the color palette, you can do the same for the fonts.
Each PowerPoint theme comes with its own font combination. By default, the Office theme includes the Office font pairing. This affects the fonts that are automatically assigned to all text in your presentation.
The good news is that the font pairings are easy to change. To switch your Theme Fonts, simply:
- Go to the Design tab in the Ribbon
- Click on the dropdown arrow in the Variants area
- Select Fonts
- Select the font pairing you want
You can choose among the pre-built fonts from Office, or you can customize them to create your own.
If you are working with PowerPoint presentations on both Mac and PC computers, make sure you choose a safe PowerPoint font. To see a list of the safest PowerPoint fonts, read our guide here .
If you receive a PowerPoint presentation and the wrong fonts were used, you can use the Replace Fonts dialog box to change the fonts across your entire presentation. For details, read our guide here .
Adding Animations & Transitions (optional)
The final step to make a PowerPoint presentation compelling, is to consider using animations and transitions. These are by no means necessary to a good presentation, but they may be helpful in your situation.
A. Adding PowerPoint animations
PowerPoint has an incredibly robust animations engine designed to power your creativity. That being said, it’s also easy to get started with basic animations.
Animations are movements that you can apply to individual objects on your slide.
To add a PowerPoint animation to an element of your slide, simply:
- Select the element
- Go to the Animations tab in the Ribbon
- Click on the dropdown arrow to view your options
- Select the animation you want
You can add animations to multiple objects at one time by selecting them all first and then applying the animation.
B. How to preview a PowerPoint animation
There are three ways to preview a PowerPoint animation:
- Click on the Preview button in the Animations tab
- Click on the little star next to the slide
- Play the slide in Slide Show Mode
To learn other ways to run your slide show, see our guide on presenting a PowerPoint slide show with shortcuts .
To adjust the settings of your animations, explore the options in the Effect Options , Advanced Animation and the Timing areas of the Animation tab .
Note: To see how to make objects appear and disappear in your slides by clicking a button, read our guide here .
C. How to manage your animations in PowerPoint
The best way to manage lots of animations on your slide is with the Animation Pane . To open it, simply:
- Navigate to the Animations tab
- Select the Animation Pane
Inside the Animation Pane, you’ll see all of the different animations that have been applied to objects on your slide, with their numbers marked as pictured above.
Note: To see examples of PowerPoint animations that can use in PowerPoint, see our list of PowerPoint animation tutorials here .
D. How to add transitions to your PowerPoint presentation
PowerPoint has an incredibly robust transition engine so that you can dictate how your slides change from one to the other. It is also extremely easy to add transitions to your slides.
In PowerPoint, transitions are the movements (or effects) you see as you move between two slides.
To add a transition to a PowerPoint slide, simply:
- Select the slide
- Go to the Transitions tab in the Ribbon
- In the Transitions to This Slide area, click on the dropdown arrow to view your options
- Select the transition you want
To adjust the settings of the transition, explore the options in the Timing area of the Transitions tab.
You can also add the same transition to multiple slides. To do that, select them in the Slides Pane and apply the transition.
E. How to preview a transition in PowerPoint
There are three ways to preview your PowerPoint transitions (just like your animations):
- Click on the Preview button in the Transitions tab
- Click on the little star beneath the slide number in the thumbnail view
Note: In 2016, PowerPoint added a cool new transition, called Morph. It operates a bit differently from other transitions. For a detailed tutorial on how to use the cool Morph transition, see our step-by-step article here .
Save Your PowerPoint Presentation
After you’ve built your presentation and made all the adjustments to your slides, you’ll want to save your presentation. YOu can do this several different ways.
To save a PowerPoint presentation using your Ribbon, simply:
- Navigate to the File tab
- Select Save As on the left
- Choose where you want to save your presentation
- Name your presentation and/or adjust your file type settings
- Click Save
You can alternatively use the Ctrl+S keyboard shortcut to save your presentation. I recommend using this shortcut frequently as you build your presentation to make sure you don’t lose any of your work.
This is the standard way to save a presentation. However, there may be a situation where you want to save your presentation as a different file type.
To learn how to save your presentation as a PDF, see our guide on converting PowerPoint to a PDF .
How to save your PowerPoint presentation as a template
Once you’ve created a presentation that you like, you may want to turn it into a template. The easiest – but not technically correct – way, is to simply create a copy of your current presentation and then change the content.
But be careful! A PowerPoint template is a special type of document and it has its own parameters and behaviors.
If you’re interested in learning about how to create your own PowerPoint template from scratch, see our guide on how to create a PowerPoint template .
Printing Your PowerPoint Presentation
After finishing your PowerPoint presentation, you may want to print it out on paper. Printing your slides is relatively easy.
To open the Print dialog box, you can either:
- Hit Ctrl+P on your keyboard
- Or go to the Ribbon and click on File and then Print
Inside the Print dialog box, you can choose from the various printing settings:
- Printer: Select a printer to use (or print to PDF or OneNote)
- Slides: Choose which slides you want to print
- Layout: Determine how many slides you want per page (this is where you can print the notes, outline, and handouts)
- Collated or uncollated (learn what collated printing means here )
- Color: Choose to print in color, grayscale or black & white
There are many more options for printing your PowerPoint presentations. Here are links to more in-depth articles:
- How to print multiple slides per page
- How to print your speaker notes in PowerPoint
- How to save PowerPoint as a picture presentation
So that’s how to create a PowerPoint presentation if you are brand new to it. We’ve also included a ton of links to helpful resources to boost your PowerPoint skills further.
When you are creating your presentation, it is critical to first focus on the content (what you are trying to say) before getting lost inserting and playing with elements. The clearer you are on what you want to present, the easier it will be to build it out in PowerPoint.
If you enjoyed this article, you can learn more about our PowerPoint training courses and other presentation resources by visiting us here .
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PowerPoint Tips Blog
Helping you with presenting, PowerPoint, and speaking
Work faster in PowerPoint
January 31, 2014 by Ellen Finkelstein 5 Comments
When I work with clients in 1-on-1 coaching , I use webinar software so we can work together on a presentation. Sometimes I wield the mouse and sometimes my client does. Because I work in PowerPoint so much, I use the fastest way possible — at least as far as I know. But when my clients take over, I often see them use slower ways of accomplishing a task.
So, here are my best tips for working faster in PowerPoint.
The ribbon is often the slowest way
For many tasks, the ribbon isn’t the way to go. Take font changes, for example.
To change the font or its color or size, use the mini toolbar. When you select text, the mini toolbar appears. At first it’s semi-transparent but if you move your cursor over it, you’ll find tools for quickly changing the font and its properties. Because the mini toolbar is close to the text, you’ll find it faster to make common changes there than to go all the way up to the ribbon. And if you aren’t on the Home tab, using the ribbon is especially slow.
The ribbon has more tools than the mini toolbar, so sometimes you have to use it, but avoid it when possible.
Right-click is your friend
- To change a slide’s layout, instead of going to the Home tab and choosing an option from the Layout button, just right-click off the slide and choose Layout, then the option you want.
- To reset a slide’s layout, right click off the slide and choose Reset Slide.
- To open the Format Shape task pane or dialog box, right-click the object and choose Format Shape.
Love your keyboard shortcuts
The fastest way to get the job done is often a keyboard shortcut.
To save your presentation, don’t use the ribbon. Better than that is the Quick Access toolbar at the top of the PowerPoint window. But by far the fastest way is to press Ctrl + S.
To copy any object and paste it, I see many people right-click and choose from the shortcut menu. But it’s much faster to use Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V.
We all make mistakes. When you do, press Ctrl + Z to undo your last action. You can do this any number of times.
Of course, to delete anything on a slide, select it and press the Delete key. If that object contains text, you need to click the border so that you delete the object and not just some of the text in it.
I see many people spend a lot of time dragging objects to move them a small distance. They move it too far, then try to move it back a little bit. Instead, use the 4 arrow keys; you’ll have a lot more control. To move an object an even smaller distance, press Ctrl while you tap the arrow keys.
Customize the Quick Access toolbar
To customize the Quick Access toolbar, click the arrow at its right end, shown by the red arrow at the right. You can quickly choose from some common options. To find more, choose More Commands.
Note that you can also choose the Show Below the Ribbon option which is helpful when you add so many buttons that they run into the part of the title bar that says the name of the presentation.
When you choose More Commands, the Options dialog box opens with the Quick Access Toolbar category active. You can choose commands from the left side and click the Add button to add them to the toolbar. Then, you can use the Up and Down arrows on the right to move the buttons around so that they’re in the order you want. I always want a New, Open and Save button there and also add a couple of commands that aren’t on the ribbon at all. I’ve seen professional designers with buttons going clear across the screen.
What techniques do you use to make your work quicker? Leave a comment and share them with your fellow PowerPoint users!
Related posts:
- Save PowerPoint customizations for the Quick Access Toolbar and ribbon
- Nudging Objects Slightly
- Customize the PowerPoint interface
- PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts
5 Leave a Reply
I use all of the tips you suggest, but I particularly like the Quick access toolbar. I customize it for those actions that don’t have shortcut keys but I use a lot.
One that few people use is F5 to begin the show. On the ribbon I use to set (almost) all formating icons. I usually hide the ribbon, to have more space to edit the slides. Thank for your advices…
I also love shortcuts, Ellen. I tell clients/students the fewer clicks the better. And one of my favorite techniques even eliminates clicking all together! When you start a new slide and see “Click to add title” I say “Ha! You can’t fool me into doing an extra click.” You merely need to type and your text will automatically go into the title text box.
Thanks so much, Ellen, for all you do. I have some more favorites. Shift+F5 will start the slide show with the slide you’re on at the moment–a quick way to check a new transition/animation at full size. Also, once you have the Quick Access Toolbar and Ribbon the way you want them, get into a populated slide and hit the Alt key. All the keyboard shortcuts light up! All you need to do is choose one. You don’t even have to hit the keys simultaneously or quickly. Just hit them in the order shown. A great keyboard shortcut trick is … Read more »
As ALWAYS great and helpful techniques! A couple of other tips i like to share with my students to help them work more quickly in PPT: Ctrl + W to close just the presentation and not PPT itself saving time waiting for PPT to re open. Ctrl + D to duplicate (not that it is so much time saving from Ctrl + C then Ctrl + V). I also like Shift + F5 to start the slide show from the current slide v the beginning. And finally, for those like me who often forget keyboard shortcuts, hitting the alt key … Read more »
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Slide Library for PowerPoint makes reuse easy
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Align shapes over PowerPoint tables quickly with this timesaving feature.
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5 Best Tools for Creating a Simple Gantt Chart
Gantt charts are powerful planning tools in project management, but they’re also notoriously difficult to make. There is, however, a simple Gantt chart that can be made in a variety of ways that can be essential when scheduling a project.
Let’s look at what a simple Gantt chart is and why one would want to use it over the more dynamic Gantt charts. Then, we’ll explore the different tools that you can use to build a simple Gantt chart and offer some free simple Gantt chart templates to get you started.
What Is a Simple Gantt Chart?
A simple Gantt chart is a Gantt chart that doesn’t have as many functions as more advanced Gantt charts . You can think of it as a Gantt chart that you create on a spreadsheet. It will look very much like a Gantt chart, but won’t be interactive and, therefore, less powerful than Gantt chart software.
However, a simple Gantt chart might be just what you need to plan a project. It’s certainly better than trying to schedule work without one. A simple Gantt chart is relatively the same as a more dynamic one. It’s a horizontal bar chart that visually represents a project plan over time, listing all the project tasks and their start and end dates.
If you need more than a simple Gantt chart, try ProjectManager , an award-winning project and portfolio management software with powerful Gantt charts that do more without the difficulty of other digital Gantt charts. You can organize tasks, create milestones and assign tasks to team members, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. We let you link all four types of task dependencies to avoid costly delays, filter for the critical path to identify essential tasks and you can set a baseline to track planned effort against your actual effort in real time. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.
Benefits of a Simple Gantt Chart
Whatever type of Gantt chart is right for you, using one is always helpful when planning your project . There are many advantages to using even a simple Gantt chart to schedule your tasks. Here are only a few reasons why.
- Some Project Management Software Can Be Hard to Use: Gantt charts have a bad reputation. They can be hard to use, even Gantt chart software , especially when it comes to editing. Projects change fast and simple Gantt charts can be easier to edit than even digital ones. However, not all project management software is created equally. You’ll probably want to try it and see how they function in the real world.
- A Simple Gantt Chart Can Be Implemented Easily: If you solely want a visual timeline to view your entire project from start to finish, then a simple Gantt chart is the right tool. All you have to do is list your tasks and the duration of each. It’s a lot easier than having to add resources, costs, dependencies, milestones and more. All of those things are helpful but add complexity you might not want.
- Simple Gantt Chart Templates Help Project Managers Save Time: The effort of setting up a more dynamic Gantt chart might be unnecessary if your project is relatively simple. A simple Gantt chart can be created quickly and easily, saving you time to focus on the more important execution and monitoring of your project .
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Gantt Chart Template
Use this free Gantt Chart Template for Excel to manage your projects better.
What Tools Can Be Used to Create a Simple Gantt Chart?
If you’re ready to use a simple Gantt chart , there are several ways you can make one. Each of these methods has thas advantages and disadvantages, but overall provides you with the simple Gantt chart you need to schedule your work and get started on executing your project.
ProjectManager
ProjectManager is a project management software that makes it easy for users to build the Gantt charts they need for their projects. There are industry-specific templates in the software that can help you get started. You can also import CSV, Excel and even Microsoft Project files. In the case of MS Project, you can even export them back into MS Project, if you’re stuck using this expensive and complicated project management software. ProjectManager also lets you build a Gantt chart from scratch. There is a lot of functionality to these Gantt charts, but you can make a simple Gantt chart to meet your needs. Get started with a free Gantt chart template .
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is probably the most popular spreadsheet software. You can make a simple Gantt chart in Excel by following the steps outlined in this blog. With a simple Gantt chart for Microsoft Excel, you can organize all your project tasks, including when they start and when they’re due. The duration of each task is then shown in the visual timeline as a bar running horizontally across the chart. You can pinpoint milestones on the timeline and even indicate dependent tasks to a degree. However, you have to manually update it and Microsoft Excel documents aren’t great for collaborating.
Microsoft Planner
Microsoft Planning is a tool offered in the Office 365 suite and is designed for work management. While Microsoft Planner doesn’t have a Gantt chart, there is a way to make a Microsoft Planner Gantt chart with ProjectManager. This involves the import and export function we talked about earlier. You can download your Microsoft Planner project as an Excel, CSV or MMP file and import it into ProjectManager. Then you can customize it as a simple Gantt chart and even export it back to Microsoft Planner after you’ve made whatever changes you needed to make.
Google Sheets
Another tool that can make a simple Gantt chart is Google Sheets, which is an online spreadsheet. The advantage of this tool over Microsoft Excel is that it’s collaborative. The simple Gantt chart lives online and there is only one document that is updated that everyone can view. Therefore, this is a more collaborative tool than a simple Gantt chart in a static spreadsheet. Read how to make a simple Gantt chart in Google Sheets .
Powerpoint is a very familiar software tool, at least in a business environment. Making a simple Gantt chart in PowerPoint is helpful because most people will know how to use the software. Also, you’ll find that PowerPoint is almost universally used throughout companies and industries. That means it’ll be easy to share this simple Gantt chart as most people are going to have PowerPoint on their computers. Follow the steps in this article to make a Gantt chart in PowerPoint . While it’s not project management software, it can be a helpful workaround for people who aren’t ready to upgrade to more dynamic Gantt charts.
Free Simple Gantt Chart Templates
If you don’t want to go through the effort of making a simple Gantt chart, you can use a Gantt chart template. We’ve created dozens of project management templates for Excel, Word and Google Sheets including Gantt chart templates that facilitate the process of setting up a Gantt chart. All you need to do is fill in the blanks. Templates aren’t ideal, but if all you need is a simple Gantt chart and you don’t want to build one from scratch, then these are a good option.
Gantt Chart Template for Excel
ProjectManager has over 100 free project management templates for Excel and Word that you can download. Some templates address every aspect of managing a project across many industries. This is a simple Gantt chart that lists all your tasks, start and end dates and then they’ll automatically populate a visual timeline.
Gantt Chart Template for Google Sheets
We’ve also created a free simple Gantt chart for Google Sheets to help you plan and schedule projects. Follow the link above and you’ll get a view-only simple Gantt chart template for Google Sheets. To use the simple Gantt chart, you’ll have to make a copy by clicking File at the top left-hand corner and then Make a Copy. You can also copy and paste the simple Gantt chart into a new Google Sheet.
Gantt Chart Template for PowerPoint
We’ve mentioned the popularity of PowerPoint. If you want to make your own, then follow the link earlier in the blog. But if you want to just get a simple Gantt chart, use the link above and after you’ve submitted your email you’ll get access to the Gantt chart template for PowerPoint.
ProjectManager Is the Best Gantt Chart Software
Of course, even a simple Gantt chart template, regardless of whether it’s in Excel, Google Sheet or PowerPoint, will only take you so far. They’re labor-intensive and require users to manually update them. That’s not the best solution for managing your projects. Even if you just want a simple Gantt chart, ProjectManager is a better option. Our Gantt charts can be as simple or dynamic as you need and they’re fully customizable, collaborative and track your progress in real time. Unlike templates, they can filter for the critical path and update in real time to give you an overview of your project’s progress.
Use Multiple Project Management Tools
Project managers love Gantt charts. They can track costs, have built-in work breakdown structures (WBS) , sync with timesheets, workload charts and more. But teams don’t need even a simple Gantt chart when executing their tasks.
That’s why we have multiple project views, including kanban boards , task lists, sheet and calendar views, so team members can use the tool that best suits their needs. All our project views are updated simultaneously, which means everyone is updated and working on the most current project data. That type of collaboration can’t be achieved with templates.
Manage Resources and Track Labor Costs
Another thing you can’t do with a simple Gantt chart is manage resources. Resources are anything you need to execute your tasks, such as your team. We allow you to set their availability, such as vacation, PTO and even global holidays for remote teams, which makes it easier to assign them tasks on our Gantt chart.
Then you can view the team’s allocation by visiting our color-coded workload chart. With team management software , it’s easy to see who is overallocated and you can balance the team’s workload right from the chart to keep them working at capacity and staying productive. We also have secure timesheets that streamline the payroll process and give managers a window into labor costs to help them stay on budget.
Related Gantt Chart Content
There’s a lot more to know about Gantt charts than how to create a simple Gantt chart. Our site publishes weekly blogs, tutorial videos and free templates. Here are some of the pieces we’ve posted that are related to Gantt charts.
- Best Gantt Chart Software (Free & Paid Options Ranked)
- Gantt Chart Alternatives for Project Management
- Displaying the Critical Path on a Gantt Chart
- Gantt Chart vs. PERT Chart vs. Network Diagram
- Gantt Chart Dependencies: Understanding Task Dependency Types
ProjectManager is online project and portfolio management software that connects teams whether they’re in the office, out in the field or anywhere in the world. Teams can share files, comment at the task level and stay updated with email and in-app notifications. Join teams at Avis, Nestle and Siemens who use our software to deliver successful projects. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.
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